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REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 



N' 



REMINISCENCES OF 
A REBEL 



BY 

THE REV. WAYLAND FULLER DUNAWAY, D.D. 

Formerly Captain of Co. I, 40th Va. Regt., 
Army of Northern Virginia 



'* Omnibus kostes 
Reddite nos populis— civile avertite be Hum.'' 

— Lucan. 




NEW YORK 

THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

1913 



EI €.05 



Copyright, 1913, by 
Wayland Fuller Dunaway 



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©C!.A357794 



PREFACE 

Notwithstanding the title of this volume, I 
do not admit that I was ever in any true sense 
a rebel, neither do I intend any disrespect 
when I call the Northern soldiers Yankees. 
The use of these terms is only a concession to 
the appellations that were customary during 
the war. 

It is my purpose to record some recollec- 
tions of the Civil War, and incidentally to 
furnish some historical notices of the brigade 
to which I was attached. Here and there I 
have expressed, also, some opinions concern- 
ing the great events of that dreadful period, 
some criticisms of the conduct of battles and 
retreats, and some estimates of the abilities of 
prominent generals. 

The incentive to write is of a complex 
nature. There is a pleasure, especially to the 
aged, in reviving the memories of the past 

5 



6 PREFACE 

and narrating them to attentive hearers. 
Moreover, I hope that this book will furnish 
instruction to those who have grown up since 
the war, and entertainment to older persons 
who participated in its struggles, privations, 
and sorrows. And besides, the future his- 
torian of that gigantic conflict may perhaps 
find here some original contribution to the 
accumulating material upon which he must 
draw. He will need the humble narratives 
of inconspicuous participants as well as the 
pretentious attempts of the partial historians 
who have preceded him. The river flows 
into the sea, but the river itself is supplied by 
creeks and rivulets and springs. 

W. F. D. 



REMINISCENCES OF A 
REBEL 

CHAPTER I 

*'Lay down the axe; fling by the spade; 
Leave in its track the toiling plow; 
The rifle and the bayonet-blade 

For arms like yours were fitter now; 
And let the hands that ply the pen 

Quit the light task, and learn to wield 
The horseman's crooked brand, and rein 
The charger on the battle field." 

— Bryant. 

IN the fall of the year i860, when I was 
in my nineteenth year, I boarded the 
steamboat Virginia, — the only one then 
running on the Rappahannock river, — and 
went to Fredericksburg on my way to the 
University of Virginia. It was my expecta- 
tion to spend two sessions in the classes of the 
professors of law, John B. Minor and James 

7 



8 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

P. Holcombe, and then, having been grad- 
uated, to follow that profession in Lancaster, 
my native county. 

The political sky had assumed a threaten- 
ing aspect. The minds of the Southern peo- 
ple had been inflamed by the insurrectionary 
raid of John Brown upon Harper's Ferry, 
especially because it had been approved by 
some Northern officials, and because the sur- 
render of some fugitives from justice, who 
had taken part in that murderous adventure, 
had been refused by Ohio and Iowa. The 
election of Abraham Lincoln added fuel to 
the flame. Having been nominated by the 
Republican party, he was constitutionally 
chosen President of the United States, al- 
though he had not received a majority of the 
popular vote. The election was ominous, 
because it was sectional, Mr. Lincoln having 
carried all the Northern states but not one of 
the Southern. The intensest excitement pre- 
vailed, while passion blew the gale and held 
the rudder too. 

While I believed in the right of secession 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 9 

I deprecated the exercise of that right, be- 
cause I loved the Union and the flag under 
which my ancestors had enjoyed the blessings 
of civil and religious liberty. I did not think 
that Lincoln's election was a sufficient cause 
for dissolving the Union, for he had an- 
nounced no evil designs concerning Southern 
institutions; and, even if he had, he was 
powerless to put them into execution. He 
could have done nothing without the consent 
of Congress, and his party was in a minority 
both in the Senate and in the House of Repre- 
sentatives. 

Before Christmas South Carolina, not car- 
ing for consequences and blind to the horrible 
future, passed an ordinance of secession; and 
her example was followed in quick succession 
by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, 
Louisiana, and Texas. These seven states 
organized the Southern Confederacy, of 
which Jefferson Davis was inaugurated Presi- 
dent, February 18, 1861. In April Fort 
Sumter was captured, and on the 15th of that 
month President Lincoln issued a proclama- 



lo REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

tion calling on the remaining states to furnish 
their quotas of an army of seventy-five thou- 
sand soldiers for the purpose of destroying 
the Confederate government. Two days later 
the Virginia convention passed an ordinance 
of secession. Being compelled to take sides, 
the Old Dominion naturally cast her lot with 
her Southern sisters. War had begun, — in- 
testine war, of whose magnitude and duration 
no living man had any adequate conception. 

These events conspired with other causes to 
infuse in me a martial spirit. The convic- 
tion was growing in me that, as my native 
state was about to be invaded, I must have a 
place in the ranks of her defenders. I was 
influenced by speeches delivered by Governor 
Floyd, Professor Holcombe, and Dr. Bledsoe, 
and still more by the contagious example of 
my roommate, William H. Chapman, who 
had gone with a company of students to 
Harper's Ferry, and had returned. What 
brought the conviction to a head was a flag. 
One morning in the latter part of April, as I 
was walking from my boarding-house to the 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL ii 

University I saw a Confederate banner float- 
ing above the rotunda. Some of the students 
during the night, surmounting difficulty and 
braving danger, had clambered to the summit 
and erected there the symbol of a new nation. 
I was thrilled by the sight of it as if by an 
electric shock. There it was, outstretched by 
a bracing northwest wind, flapping defiantly, 
arousing patriotic emotion. Unable longer 
to refrain, I went as soon as the lecture was 
concluded to Professor Minor's residence and 
told him I was going to enter the military 
service of Virginia. He sought to dissuade 
me, but, perceiving that he could not alter my 
rash decision, he gave at my request a written 
permission to leave his classes. 

But how to get home? — that had become a 
perplexing question. I could not go the way 
I had come, because the Virginia fearful of 
capture had ceased to make trips from Fred- 
ericksburg to Lancaster, and there was no 
railroad to that part of the state. Knowing 
that my uncle, Addison Hall, was a member 
of the Convention, I determined to take a 



12 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

train to Richmond and seek his advice. I 
felt relieved when he informed me that he 
was going the next morning, and that I could 
go along with him. We took an early train 
to West Point, and being ferried across the 
Mattaponi river, obtained from one of his 
friends a conveyance to Urbanna. We hired 
a sloop to take us to Carter's creek, and thence 
we proceeded in a farm wagon to his home in 
the village of Kilmarnock. The next morn- 
ing he sent me to the home of the Rev. Dr. 
Thomas S. Dunaway, my brother, and my 
guardian. 

In a few days I enlisted in a company that 
was being raised by Captain Samuel P. Gres- 
ham, who had been a student at the Virginia 
Military Institute. And thus the student's 
gown was exchanged for the soldier's uniform. 

Before we were regularly mustered into 
service an expedition was undertaken that 
indicated at once the forwardness of our peo- 
ple to engage the enemy and their ignorance 
of military affairs. The report having been 
circulated that a Federal gunboat was lying 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 13 

in Mill Creek in Northumberland county, its 
capture, or destruction, was resolved upon by 
about a hundred men, who had assembled 
at the county seat of Lancaster. With no 
weapons except an old smooth-bore six-pound 
cannon, and that loaded with scrap iron gath- 
ered from a blacksmith's shop, we proceeded 
to Mill Creek and unlimbered on the bank in 
plain view of the boat, and distant from it 
some two or three hundred yards. I have 
always been glad that we had sense enough to 
refrain from shooting, for otherwise most of 
us would have been killed then and there. 
Seeing the hopelessness of an unequal combat, 
we retired from the scene somewhat wiser 
than when we went. In that instance was not 
^^discretion the better part of valor"? 



CHAPTER II 

War, war is still the cry, "War to the knife." 

— Byron. 

THERE was in the central part of the 
county a beautiful grove in which 
the Methodists were accustomed to 
hold their annual camp-meetings. On ac- 
count of its location and the shelter afforded 
by its tents it was in 1861 transformed into 
a rendezvous of a radically different nature, 
the military companies that had been raised 
in the county assembling there preparatory to 
going into the army. It was there that Cap- 
tain Gresham's company, known as the Lacy 
Rifles, was formally enrolled by Col. R. A. 
Claybrook and Dr. James Simmonds. When 
they came to where I stood in the line of men 
they declined to enlist me because I appeared 
pale and weak on account of recent sickness. 
I said, ''Do as you like, gentlemen, but I am 

14 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 15 

going with the boys anyhow." "If you talk 
like that," they replied, "we will insert your 
name." 

Not many days afterward the company as- 
sembled at the court-house, and, having sworn 
allegiance to the Southern Confederacy, was 
duly mustered into its service. In vehicles of 
all sorts we drove to Monaskon wharf, where 
the schooner Extra was moored to receive us 
and to convey us up the Rappahannock river. 
As the vessel glided along what a jolly set we 
were! — gay as larks, merry as crickets, play- 
ful as kittens. There was singing, dancing, 
feasting on the palatable provisions supplied 
by the loving friends we were leaving, with 
no thought of captivity, wounds, nor death. 
Ignorant of war, we were advancing toward 
its devouring jaws with such conduct as be- 
came an excursion of pleasure. The only 
arms we then possessed were two-edged dag- 
gers made of rasps in blacksmith shops, and 
with these we were going to hew our way to 
victory through the serried ranks of the in- 
vading army ! Ah, well ! we knew better what 



i6 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

war was after we had become the seasoned 
veterans of many campaigns. 

When the vessel had proceeded up the river 
as far as Fort Lowry it rounded to, because a 
solid shot ricochetted before the bow, and we 
were transferred to the steamboat Virginia, 
which carried us to Fredericksburg. Pass- 
ing along the streets, attracting attention by 
our neat gray uniforms, we marched out to 
the fair-grounds, and rejoiced to obtain the 
friendly shelter of the cattle stalls. They 
were not as comfortable as the chambers of 
our homes — but what of it? Were we not 
soldiers now? It is wonderful and blessed 
how human nature can accommodate itself to 
altered environments. 

We were supplied with smoothbore, muz- 
zle-loading, Springfield muskets, small leather 
boxes for percussion caps, and larger ones 
for cartridges. For the information of the 
present generation let it be explained that 
the cartridge was made of tough paper con- 
taining powder in one end and the ounce ball 
of lead in the other; and the manner of load- 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 17 

ing was this : the soldier tore off with his teeth 
the end, poured the powder into the muzzle, 
and then rammed down the ball; this being 
done, a cap was placed on the nipple of the 
breech, and the gun was ready to be fired. 
That musket is antiquated now, but it did 
much execution in former days. 

Maj. J. H. Lacy, for whom the company 
was named, presented an elegant silk banner, 
which at Captain Gresham's request I re- 
ceived in the best language at my command. 
It was never borne in battle, for it was not 
companies but regiments that carried banners. 
There was but one flag to a regiment, and that 
was always carried in the center. Twice a 
day there was a course of drilling in tactical 
evolutions and in the handling of the muskets. 
At first I was hardly strong enough to sustain 
the fatigue, but I rapidly grew stronger under 
the combined influence of exercise, sleeping 
in the open air, and the excitement of a mili- 
tary life. The war did me harm in many 
ways, but it was the means of increasing my 
capacity for bodily exertion. During the 



i8 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

encampment at Fredericksburg many of my 
spare moments were spent in reading the New 
Testament and Pollok's ^'Course of Time." 

We did not long remain in Fredericksburg; 
but being transported on cars to Brooke Sta- 
tion we marched up to camp Chappawamsic, 
near a Baptist church of that name. There 
the Lacy Rifles became Company F in the 
47th regiment of Virginia Volunteers, com- 
manded by Col. G. W. Richardson of Henrico 
county, who had been a member of the Vir- 
ginia Convention that passed the ordinance of 
secession. He was a brave and patriotic 
gentleman, but unskilled in military affairs; 
and he did not long retain the command. 

From the summer of 1861 until the spring 
of 1862 we spent the time in company and 
regimental drill, and in picketing the shore 
of the Potomac river day and night, lest the 
enemy should effect a landing and take us 
unaware. During that time no shots were 
exchanged with the enemy, because no land- 
ing was attempted. The only fighting that 
we saw was at Dumfries where there was a 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 19 

Confederate fort, to which we marched to act 
as a support in case the Yankees came ashore. 
Three vessels of the Federal navy passed 
slowly down the river, between which and the 
fort there was a brief but lively cannonade; 
but so far as I know there was no resulting 
damage to either side. 

On Sunday, July 21, we heard the boom- 
ing of the cannon at Bull Run, lamenting that 
we had no part in the battle. When we after- 
ward heard how McDowell's army skedad- 
dled back to Washington more rapidly than 
they came, we thought that the war would end 
without our firing a gun. So little did we 
understand the firmness of President Lin- 
coln's mind and the settled purpose of the 
North! 

The winter was spent in comparative com- 
fort, for we moved out of tents into cabins 
built of pine logs, each one having a wide 
arch and a chimney. At Christmas some 
good things were sent to me, among which 
was a dressed turkey, which I did not know 
how to prepare for the table, for even if I 



20 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

had possessed some knowledge of the culi- 
nary art there was no suitable oven. For- 
tunately a comrade by the name of John 
Cook, — an appropriate name for that occa- 
sion, — came to my relief and solved the prob- 
lem in a most satisfactory manner. The bird 
was suspended by a string before the open 
fire, and being continually turned right and 
left, and basted with grease from a plate be- 
neath, it was beautifully browned and cooked 
to a turn. 



CHAPTER III 

Drummer, strike up, and let us march away. 

— Shakespeare's Henry VI. 

IN the spring of 1862 Gen. George B. 
McClellan with an army of 120,000 
men, thoroughly drilled and lavishly 
equipped, set out from Washington to cap- 
ture Richmond from the north; but he had 
not proceeded far before he changed his mind 
about the line of advance. His forces were 
transported to Fortress Monroe with the 
design of approaching the city by the way of 
the peninsula that lies between the York and 
the James rivers. The correctness of his 
judgment was justified by subsequent cam- 
paigns; for the successive attempts of Pope, 
Burnside, Hooker, and Grant to take the Con- 
federate capital from the north were all 
disastrous failures. 

In order to check the upward progress of 

2X 



22 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

McClellan's army, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston 
withdrew his forces from Manassas and the 
shore of the Potomac and concentrated them 
on the Peninsula. The 47th regiment 
marched from its winter quarters to Rich- 
mond, and was thence transported down the 
James to a wharf not far from Yorktown. 
During our brief stay in that vicinity, the 
companies were authorized to elect their offi- 
cers; and I, who had been acting as Orderly 
Sergeant, was chosen Third Lieutenant. 

As the National army advanced, the Con- 
federates fell back toward Richmond. Our 
regiment was not in the engagement that took 
place near Williamsburg on the 5th of May, 
but I saw then for the first time some wounded 
men and prisoners. The retreat was con- 
ducted somewhat rapidly, but in an orderly 
and skilful manner. I do not remember that 
we marched in darkness but once, and then 
we trudged all night long through shoe-deep 
mud. At times when the men in front en- 
countered an unusually bad place those who 
were behind were compelled to come to a 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 23 

temporary halt. If I did not sleep while 
walking along I came as near to it as weary- 
mortal ever did, and I am sure that I dozed 
while standing still. 

General Johnston posted his army between 
Richmond and the Chickahominy river, the 
47th regiment being on the left, not far from 
Meadow bridge, and in the pestilential low- 
grounds of that sluggish stream. Swarms of 
mosquitoes attacked us at night and with their 
hypodermic proboscides injected poisonous 
malaria in our veins, to avoid which the sleep- 
ing soldier covered his head with a blanket. 
The complexion of the men became sallow, 
and every day numbers of them were put on 
the sick-list by the surgeons. 

The 47th regiment, commanded by Col. 
Robert M. Mayo, and having brigade con- 
nection with some regiments from North 
Carolina, had its first experience of real war 
in the battle of Seven Pines (or Fair Oaks), 
which was fought on the 31st of May. On 
that day General Johnston attacked the left 
wing of the Federal army, which had been 



24 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

thrown across to the southern side of the 
Chickahominy. To some persons the decla- 
ration may seem surprising, but it was with 
real pleasure that I went into the battle. It 
was the novelty of it, I suppose, that pre- 
vented me from being frightened by explod- 
ing shells and rattling musketry. The dread 
of these things came afterward when I saw 
fields scattered over with the wounded, the 
dying, and the dead, and among them some 
of my dearest friends. In that affair our 
Lieutenant-Colonel, John M. Lyell, was 
seriously wounded, and the regiment sus- 
tained a loss of about fifty men. Our chap- 
lain, Mr. Meredith, of Stafford county, went 
into action with us, but while he did not do 
the like again, it is no impeachment of his 
courage. His duty lay in other directions; 
and it ought to be recorded in his praise that 
after every battle he might be found doing 
all he could to relieve and comfort the 
wounded. 



CHAPTER IV 

In peace there's nothing so becomes a man 
As modest stillness, and humility; 
But when the blast of war blows in our ears, 
Then imitate the action of the tiger; 
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood. 

— Shakespeare's Henry V. 

AFTER the undecisive battle of Seven 
Pines the 47th regiment together with 
the 40th and the 55th Virginia regi- 
ments and the 22nd Virginia battalion was 
formed into a brigade, and this combina- 
tion continued until the close of the war. It 
was known as the First Brigade of the Light 
Division, which was composed of six brigades, 
and commanded by Maj.-Gen. A. P. Hill. 
Why it was called the Light division I did 
not learn; but I know that the name was ap- 
plicable, for we often marched without coats, 
blankets, knapsacks, or any other burdens ex- 

25 



26 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

cept our arms and haversacks, which were 
never heavy and sometimes empty. 

On Thursday, June 26, the memorable but 
miss-called ''battles around Richmond" began. 
Being on the left of the army, the First 
Brigade had the honor and the danger of 
being the first to cross the Chickahominy. 
Passing over Meadow bridge, we dispersed 
the enemy's outpost, only one man being 
wounded in the passage, and hurried on to- 
wards Mechanicsville and Beaver Dam, 
where was posted the extreme right of the 
Federal army. The contest raged for six 
hours. We failed to dislodge the enemy 
from its naturally strong and well-fortified 
position across Beaver Dam creek, and our 
loss was heavy, — heavier in some other 
brigades than in ours. The following morn- 
ing, discovering that our antagonists had 
withdrawn, we crossed over Beaver Dam in 
pursuit. 

McClellan had decided to retreat! He 
called it a change of base; but if a change of 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 27 

base from the York to the James river was 
good strategy, why did he not do it before he 
was attacked? It looks very much as if he 
gave ''a reason upon compulsion." It must 
be conceded that he managed the retreat with 
admirable ability, although, while inflicting 
severe punishment upon Lee's army, it in- 
volved the loss of 10,000 prisoners, 52 pieces 
of artillery and 35,000 stand of small arms, 
besides immense stores of ammunition and 
provisions. But why retreat? Was it for 
this that he had led to the gates of Richmond 
a grand army of brave and disciplined men, 
at an enormous cost to his government? 
Having many qualities of a great commander, 
he lacked the gaudium certaminis and the 
daring that assumes the hazard of defeat. 
In war the adage holds good with emphasis : 
''Nothing venture, nothing gain." The cele- 
brated generals of all times, confiding in their 
own skill and the bravery of their soldiers, 
have been bold even to the degree of seeming 
rashness. Such was the spirit and conduct of 



28 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

Lee when with half the numbers he assaulted 
Hooker, and afterward Grant, in the Wilder- 
ness. 

McClellan's army being astraddle the 
Chickahominy, two courses of action were 
open to him when he was attacked. 

He might have concentrated on the north 
side of the river, leaving a sufBcient force to 
guard the bridges in his rear, and then as- 
sumed "a strong defensive position. Having 
abandoned Beaver Dam he withdrew to 
Gaines' Mill, — a place most favorable for 
defense, — still having 60,000 men in striking 
distance across the river. If instead of vacat- 
ing that position, or suffering a portion of his 
army to be driven from it, he had reenforced 
it by a half of those unoccupied 60,000 men, 
I do not believe he could have been dislodged 
by all the valor and dash of the Confederate 
army. 

The other line of action that he might have 
chosen was to concentrate on the southern side 
of the river, destroy the bridges, and then 
crushing the small army of Magruder, make 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 29 

a quick attack upon Richmond, while the 
forces of Lee and Jackson were on the other 
side. It seems to me that either course would 
have been better and nobler than the in- 
glorious retreat to Harrison's Landing. It 
appeared that Lee was gaining victory after 
victory; but until the battle of Malvern Hill 
he was fighting only portions of McClellan's 
forces. In that engagement alone did the 
Union army contend with its undivided 
strength, and there it gained a victory. If it 
could hold its ground there after having suf- 
fered many losses, could it not much better 
have repulsed the Confederates at Gaines' 
Mill? 

When the First Brigade advanced to the 
charge at Gaines' Mill, on the 27th of June, 
it emerged out of a wood into a large field, 
which declined toward a ravine through 
which a stream of water ran, and on the other 
side of which the ground rose somewhat pre- 
cipitously to a considerable altitude. It had 
been wisely chosen for defense, and the oppo- 
site high ground was lined with infantry and 



30 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

crowned with batteries. As it was impossible 
to dislodge the enemy until some diversion 
should be created on one of his flanks, our 
men lay prone upon the ground, while bullets 
and shells hurtled among us and above us. 
At length seeing a brigade on our left rapidly 
advancing where the enemy's position was 
less formidable, we rose up and, with the in- 
spiring "rebel yell," ran down the slope, 
crossed the little creek, clambered up the hill, 
and poured a volley into the retiring Yankees, 
some of whom were Duryea's Zouaves with 
their flaming uniforms. It was then that we 
more than repaid them for the loss they had 
inflicted upon us. On that day there fell 
some of my dearest friends, among whom was 
St. John F. Moody, who for three years had 
been my teacher, and afterward became my 
beloved companion. So patriotic and brave 
was he that if ''Dulce et decorum est pro patria 
mori'' ever was true of any hero it was of him. 
The next battle in which the brigade took 
part was that of Frazier's Farm, three days 
later. As we entered a field we saw before 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 31 

us a battery (which I believe was RandelPs) 
supported by a firm line of infantry. In 
Wilson's history of the war he says: ''One 
of the most brilliant charges of the day was 
made by the 55th and the 60th Virginia." 
The correct statement is that it was made by 
our brigade composed, as has been said, of 
the 40th, the 47th, the 55th, and the 22d Vir- 
ginia. We rushed across the field, drove 
away the opposing infantry, and captured the 
battery. One of the gunners lying on the 
ground badly wounded jerked the lanyard of 
a loaded cannon just as we had almost reached 
the battery. Happily for us the discharge 
flew over our heads. He knew that he was in 
our power, for all his comrades were fleeing 
away, and he had no right to fire upon us. 
The deed was more like vengeful murder 
than honorable war; however, we did him no 
harm, for though his spirit was spiteful his 
pluck was commendable. 

It was late in the afternoon; and as we 
stood in line by the captured guns, ready to 
receive an expected countercharge, a lone 



32 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

horseman approached who proved to be Ma- 
jor-General McCall, who in the fading twi- 
light had mistaken us for his own men. 
Hearing numerous cries to halt and seeing 
many muskets leveled at him, he dismounted 
and led his horse to where we stood. Being 
conducted before Colonel Mayo, he said, 
'Tor God's sake, Colonel, don't let your men 
do me any harm." Colonel Mayo was so 
indignant at the implied accusation that he 
used some cuss words, and asked him whether 
he thought we were a set of barbarians. If 
he had been captured in battle, I should have 
been glad ; but, as it was, I felt sorry for him, 
and if I could have had the disposal of him 
I would have paroled him and turned him 
loose. 

The First Brigade did not again come 
under fire until we reached Malvern Hill, 
the ist of July. There McClellan had skil- 
fully stationed his entire army, and all the 
valorous efforts of Lee's army to storm the 
position were unavailing. One of our men 
addressed a North Carolina regiment as 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 33 

^Tarheels" and received for answer, "If you 
had had some tar on your heels, you would 
have stuck to that battery better than you 
did." 

McClellan, having for six days acted on the 
defensive, and in the last engagement having 
been virtually victorious, had an opportunity 
to assume the offensive; for in war as in the 
game of chess an unsuccessful attack invites 
defeat. On the 2d of July, if he had in- 
spirited his regiments with the cry of "On to 
Richmond" and attacked the Confederates 
unprepared for so surprising a reversal, who 
can tell what might have been the result? 
Was it not worth the trial? And if he had 
failed, could he not then have fallen back to 
the cover of the gunboats? But he was bent 
on going to Harrison's Landing, and thither 
his army retreated all night over a muddy 
road. Thus ended the second attempt to cap- 
ture the Confederate capital. 



CHAPTER V 

When Greeks joined Greeks, then was the tug of war. 

— Nathaniel Lee. 

AFTER the battle of Malvern Hill the 
First Brigade had a brief and enjoy- 
able respite from marching and fight- 
ing, while it bivouacked in the pine forest 
near Savage Station. 

Gen. John Pope, with his ^'headquarters in 
the saddle," set out from Washington with a 
numerous force to capture Richmond, and 
was reenforced by the remains of McClellan's 
army that had been transported from Harri- 
son's Landing to Acquia creek. Jackson's 
corps, of which Hill's Light Division was an 
important part, was dispatched to watch his 
movements and to check his progress. From 
the flat lands of the James and the Chicka- 
hominy we marched to the hill country, and 

34 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 35 

for a few days remained near Orange Court 
House. On the 9th of August we forded the 
Rapidan in search of the enemy. A suffocat- 
ing cloud of dust enveloped our toiling host, 
and so intense was the heat that a few of the 
men fell sunstruck in the road. During this 
march, as also on similar occasions, I saw 
packs of cards scattered along the highway; 
for though the soldier might play them for 
money or amusement when there was no pros- 
pect of an engagement, he did not relish the 
thought of their being found upon him if he 
should be killed. In the afternoon we en- 
countered a portion of the National army 
under the command of General Banks and 
fought the battle of Cedar Run, in which our 
people were victorious. That night the hos- 
tile lines were so close that we could hear the 
Yankees talking, but could not distinguish the 
words. When daylight came they were far 
away. 

Toward the latter part of the month Pope's 
army occupied a position near Warrenton in 
Fanquier county, while across the North Fork 



36 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

of the Rappahannock river he was confronted 
by Lee's united army in Culpeper. 

To cross the river and force the Federal 
position by a front attack was plainly im- 
practicable; but in some way the Yankees 
must be removed and compelled to fight on 
something like equal terms. The plan was 
formed that Jackson with his corps should 
by a forced circuitous march obtain the 
enemy's rear and thus, cutting the line of his 
communication, compel him to retire from his 
advantageous location, and that Lee with 
Longstreet's corp should rejoin Jackson and 
bring on an engagement with his entire army. 
To some military critics this division of the 
army in the face of an unchastised antagonist 
might seem to contradict the rules of sound 
strategy, but in the fertile minds of Lee and 
Jackson it was the dictate of consummate 
genius. Such a division occurred in Mary- 
land, just before the battle of Sharpsburg, and 
again at Chancellorsville the following year, 
and each time it was advantageous to the Con- 
federate arms. These two men had the ut- 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 37 

most confidence in each other, and either felt 
safe while the other was making an independ- 
ent movement. In the course of the years 
that have elapsed since the termination of the 
war I have frequently been asked, ^Which 
was the greater general, Lee or Jackson?" 
After pondering this question for forty-five 
years I am yet unable to decide; and that re- 
minds me of Abe Lincoln and the hats. When 
he became President, two enterprising mer- 
chants in Washington, desiring to secure his 
custom, each presented him with an elegant 
silk hat, and it so happened that they called 
at the same time to learn his opinion of their 
gifts. ^'Gentlemen," said Mr. Lincoln, 
"these hats mutually excel each other." 

On Tuesday, the 26th of August, the march 
of Jackson's corps began, every step of the 
onward way bringing us nearer to the Blue 
Ridge where it borders the county of Rap- 
pahannock, and causing us to guess that 
through some gap of the mountain we were 
going into the valley. We did not know 
what Old Jack, (as he was familiarly and af- 



38 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

fectionately called,) was up to, but it did not 
matter what was the objective, — so implicit 
was the confidence reposed in his military 
judgment. Passing out of Rappahannock 
and skirting the base of the Blue Ridge, we 
rested for the night at Salem, in Fanquier, 
a station of the Manassas Gap Railroad, the 
name of which has since been changed to 
Marshall. Betimes the next morning we 
were hurrying eastward through Thorough- 
fare Gap of Bull Run Mountain, and late in 
the evening we arrived at Manassas Junction, 
— between Pope's army and Washington. I 
had read that walking was an excellent form 
of exercise because it brought into play every 
muscle of the body, and having walked nearly 
sixty miles in two days I was convinced that 
the reason assigned was valid, for the muscles 
of my arms and neck were almost as sore as 
were those of my legs. The making of long 
marches unexpectedly and quickly was one of 
the secrets of Jackson's success. It may be 
supposed by the uninitiated that after such 
fatigue the soldier is not in good condition for 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 39 

fighting; but the sense of weariness is lost 
when the excitement of battle begins. 

The few Federal regiments on guard at the 
Junction were quickly dispersed, and trains of 
cars loaded with all sorts of army supplies 
were burned. A large building filled with 
commissary stores was also burned, but not 
before our empty haversacks had been re- 
plenished. By the light of the fires we supped 
plentifully on potatoes and beef and then lay 
down upon the ground, not to pleasant dreams, 
but to dreamless sleep. 

On the 28th our brigade with some others 
went toward Centerville, in Fairfax county, 
and thence turning away came back into 
Prince William and took position on a part of 
the ground whereon the first battle of Manas- 
sas had been fought. Ewell's division, which 
had been left behind to befog Pope's mind and 
retard his movements, joined us and completed 
the defensive line of Jackson's entire corps. 

The next day the Federal army began to 
press us vigorously, but the numerous attacks 
made upon us were repelled and followed 



40 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

by counter charges. Our Brigadier-General, 
Field, was wounded badly, and Company F 
lost some men, among whom was Lieutenant 
James Ball, who in the absence of Capt. Wil- 
liam Brown was in command. By his death 
the control of the company was devolved upon 
me. 

Let me here relate an incident to show that 
between individuals of the opposing hosts 
there was no animosity. During a lull in the 
battle I left the regiment and circumspectly 
proceeded forward to reconnoiter. I found 
in a wood a Yankee captain dangerously 
wounded, a fine-looking man and handsomely 
dressed. In reply to the question whether I 
could do anything for him he asked for water, 
and I, kneeling down, held my canteen to his 
lips, for which kindness he made grateful ack- 
nowledgments. "And now," said I, "there is 
something you can do for me: you can give 
me your sword, but I will not take it unless 
you part with it freely." He replied that I 
was welcome to it, for he would never need 
it again. After I had taken it he said : "You 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 41 

had better retire, because our men will soon 
be here again." He was thirsty, and I gave 
him drink; I was in danger, and he gave me 
friendly warning. 

That sword had an unfortunate history: its 
beautiful scabbard, belt, and shoulder strap 
were ruined when my tent was burned the 
next winter; its hilt was shot off at Chancel- 
lorsville, and the naked blade was thrown 
away on that ensanguined field. 

I returned to where the regiment was stand- 
ing prepared to receive another attack, which, 
however, was not made that day. When we 
were ordered to fall back to our first position, 
I caused to be brought with us the bodies of 
Lieutenant Ball and his most intimate friend, 
Mordecai Lawson, who, like him, had been 
shot in the forehead. With bayonets and 
hands a grave was dug, in which we laid them 
side by side, and spreading over them a sol- 
dier's blanket, we heaped above them the turf 
and clods. In neither army could there have 
been found two braver men. Boon compan- 
ions in life, in death they were not divided. 



42 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

The next day, Saturday the 30th, witnessed 
the grand struggle that has become famous 
in history as the Second Battle of Manassas. 
After a separation of four days Longstreet's 
corps had come up and formed on Jackson's 
right, and General Pope was compelled either 
to retreat or fight on ground so skilfully se- 
lected by General Lee. The line of battle was 
nearly parallel with Bull Run, whereas in the 
first battle it was perpendicular to it. 

There was between the two armies a bed that 
had been graded for a railroad, but upon 
which no rails have ever been laid. It was 
the fortune of the First Brigade to fight on 
Friday over a shallow cut, and on Saturday 
over the deepest of all. Our line being 
formed in an oak forest and ordered to charge, 
we rushed from the wood into a large field 
across which the cut had been dug, not know- 
ing it was there until we came close to it. The 
Federal soldiers on the other side made but 
feeble resistance, because they had already 
been hotly engaged with a brigade composed 
of the 60th Virginia and some regiments from 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 43 

Louisiana. That brigade was down in the cut, 
having exhausted their ammunition, and it 
would have been captured but for our timely 
arrival, which filled them with rejoicing. In 
that charge the saber was knocked from my 
uplifted hand, and falling it stuck in the 
ground some paces behind me. 

The brigade did not cross the cut, but a few 
of the men clambered over and I among them. 
There was a cannon over there which they 
pulled back with all the hilarity of college 
students, some riding astraddle the piece, 
cheering, and waving their caps. 

We had no sooner recrossed the cut and re- 
gained our places in the line than the grand 
spectacle of dense columns of Pope's army 
coming to the assault was witnessed. In 
perfect array, they kept step as if on dress 
parade, and bore their banners proudly. I 
looked for a terrific shock, but before they 
came to close quarters with us, the Confed- 
erate artillery, massed on high ground behind 
us, opened upon their closed ranks, and 
wrought such fearful destruction as, I believe, 



44 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

was not dealt in any other battle of the entire 
war. Shells burst among them so thick and 
fast that in a few minutes the field was literally 
strewn with the killed and wounded. They 
halted, they turned, they fled; and Lee's whole 
army assuming the ofifensive, rushed forward 
and won the battle. 

general Pope was going to hoist the Stars 
and Stripes above the capitol in Richmond, 
but he came no nearer to the city than Cedar 
Run. His men were brave, but from first to 
last he was mystified by Lee's superior strategy. 
A prisoner said to me, "If we had your Jack- 
son, we would soon whip you." And I will 
express the opinion that if the Army of the 
Potomac had been commanded by generals 
who were the equals of Lee and Jackson the 
Southern Confederacy would have collapsed 
before April, 1865 ; and sooner still if Lee and 
Jackson had led the Northern armies, while 
the Confederates were marshaled by leaders 
of Pope's caliber. 



CHAPTER VI 

'Tis the soldiers' life 
To have their balmy slumbers waked with strife. 

— Shakespeare's Othello. 

OUR next encounter with the Yankees 
occurred on the first day of September 
at a place called Ox Hill, near Chan- 
tilly on the Little River turnpike, in which 
they sustained a heavy loss in the death of 
General Philip Kearney, one of their best and 
bravest commanders. Inasmuch as the action 
took place during a thunderstorm its awful 
impressiveness was increased, and it was diffi- 
cult to distinguish between the reverberations 
of the heavens and the detonations of the 
mimicking artillery, sometimes alternating 
and sometimes simultaneous. 

That night, when all was still and darkness 
had settled upon the field where lay the vic- 
tims of war, a soldier of the 40th regiment, 

45 



46 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

an intrepid Irishman, George Cornwell by 
name, went out prowling for food and plunder, 
taking his musket with him. Unexpectedly 
meeting a Federal lieutenant and four men 
bearing a stretcher and searching for their 
wounded captain, he was asked to what regi- 
ment he belonged. With ready wit he 
named a New York regiment, and then 
learning their business and finding that they 
were unarmed, he leveled his musket, de- 
manded their surrender, and brought them as 
prisoners within our lines. I myself did a 
little searching until I found a full haversack 
strapped to a man who would never use his 
teeth again. I was hungry, and chilled by the 
recent rain. I found in the haversack crackers 
and ground coffee mixed with sugar; and 
bringing into requisition my matches, tin cup, 
and canteen of water (which three things I 
was always careful to have about me), I soon 
had a pint of steaming beverage. I ate my 
supper, and then laid down to sleep. This 
was only one of many times that I slept in 
wet garments on the rain-soaked lap of earth 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 47 

without injury to my health; and the only rea- 
son I can give for the immunity is, that those 
were ^War times." 

The National army returned to Washing- 
ton, and together with all the forces in and 
around that city was again put under the com- 
mand of General McClellan. 

From Chantilly we marched to the vicinity 
of Leesburg and went into camp near a beauti- 
ful spring, several feet deep, which was in a 
large square walled up with brick. The next 
day we came to the Potomac river, which was 
then about four feet deep, with its bottom 
covered with rounded stones of many sizes. 
We were not so favored as Joshua's host at the 
Jordan, but we just walked from shore to 
shore as if there were no water there. Beauti- 
ful was the scene. As I approached the river 
I beheld those who had crossed ascending the 
hill on the farther shore; in the water a double 
line of soldiers stretching from side to side, 
their guns held high above the current and 
gilded by the beams of the westering sun; 
and others behind them going down the de- 



48 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

clivity of the Virginia shore. There came 
unbidden to my mind some lines of one of 
Charles Wesley's hymns: 

One army of the living God, 

To his command we bow; 
Part of the host have crossed the flood, 

And part are crossing now. 
E'en now to their eternal home 

Some happy spirits fly; 
And we are to the margin come, 

And soon expect to die. 

From Bunyan's time onward, and I know 
not how long before, a river has been the 
Christian symbol of death. 

There was some expectation that when we 
came into Maryland many of her sons would 
rally to our banners, according to the predic- 
tion of a well-known song: 

"She breathes, she burns, she'll come, she'll come, 
Maryland, my Maryland;" 

but the cold fact is, she did not come; and in 
the light of subsequent events, it is well that 
she did not. 

From the Potomac the march was continued 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 49 

to the Monocacy river, near Frederick City. 
During our brief sojourn there we bought 
goods in the stores and paid for them in Con- 
federate money, although, no doubt, the mer- 
chants would have preferred greenbacks or 
specie ; and so far as I know nothing was taken 
without that remuneration. 

Again Lee's army was divided, Jackson's 
corps being detached and sent forward for the 
purpose of capturing Harper's Ferry. For 
three days during the westward march in 
Maryland no rations were issued, and our only 
food was ears of green corn roasted or boiled 
without salt. These served for supper and 
breakfast, but we had nothing for dinner, for 
if when we started in the morning we put the 
cooked corn in the haversacks it soured under 
the hot rays of the sun, and time was too 
precious to allow a halt for cooking a fresh 
supply at noon. 

Fording the Potomac again, we passed out 
of Maryland into Virginia at Williamsport 
and proceeded rapidly to Harper's Ferry. 
The Federal force occupying a very high hill 



50 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

which had been fortified by abattis and en- 
trenchments, any attempt to storm it would 
have inflicted terrible loss upon the attacking 
party. With much difficulty our cannon had 
been placed on the Maryland Heights, on the 
Loudoun Heights, and on other eminences that 
overlooked the enemy's position; and when all 
was ready the order was given to the infantry 
to begin the assault. When we came to the 
foot of the little mountain occupied by the 
Yankees we discovered that trees had been cut 
so as to fall downward, and that their inter- 
lacing limbs had been trimmed and sharpened 
to a point. To advance upward through these 
innumerable spikes appeared impossible; 
nevertheless we began the ascent at the same 
time that our artillery on the mountains opened 
fire. The enemy, seeing our advance and be- 
ing torn by plunging shots and shells from so 
many enfilading directions, were persuaded to 
surrender. As we were slowly struggling up- 
ward I looked and with a joyful feeling of re- 
lief saw the white flag flying, and a large one 
it was. This was on Monday, the 15th of 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 51 

September. So well was this affair planned 
by Jackson that without the loss of a man we 
captured 11,000 prisoners, 13,000 stand of 
small arms, and 73 pieces of artillery. 

Having performed what was necessary to 
secure the fruits of this remarkable achieve- 
ment, it was of the utmost importance that we 
should hurry away to reenforce Longstreet's 
corps, which was confronted by the northern 
army at Sharpsburg. Passing through Shep- 
herdstown we waded the Potomac the third 
time. Our brigade did not reach the battle 
field until the evening of the 17th, when the 
most of the severe fighting of the day had 
ended. It was a drawn battle with very heavy 
losses on both sides. On the i8th the oppos- 
ing hosts confronted each other without com- 
ing to blows. Did not McClellan blunder 
again? Having a much greater army, a part 
of which had not been engaged, ought he not 
to have renewed the battle in the attempt to 
crush the Confederates and drive them into 
the river? When he awoke on the 19th Lee's 
army was on the Virginia side. 



CHAPTER VII 

The midnight brought the signal-sound of strife, 
The morn the marshalling in arms, the day- 
Battle's magnificently-stern array. 

— Byron. 

ON the 20th of September McClellan 
sent one of his divisions over into Vir- 
ginia, with the purpose, I suppose, of 
making a reconnoissance in force. It was at- 
tacked by the Light Division and driven back 
to the Maryland side of the river, not a few of 
the men perishing in the water. On that oc- 
casion the 47th passed within a few paces of a 
Yankee regiment standing in line in a field 
and displaying their national banner. Not a 
musket was fired by either party; for they, be- 
ing cut off from the river, were doomed to 
captivity, and we were going at double-quick 
against another force. When the engagement 
had ended and we were marching away, a solid 

5a 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 53 

shot from beyond the river ricochetted along 
our line and in unpleasant proximity to it. 
Though much of its force was spent, yet if it 
had struck our line it had sufficient momentum 
to have destroyed many lives. Here was a 
close call, which differed from many another 
in that the bounding ball was visible. 

The Maryland campaign being over, Jack- 
son's corps retired to Bunker Hill between 
Winchester and Martinsburg, and there we 
had for more than two months an unusual sea- 
son of rest and recuperation. I remember 
one day of special enjoyment. Obeying an or- 
der, I took a squad of men some seven or eight 
miles along the turnpike in the direction of 
Martinsburg to keep a lookout for the ap- 
proach of the enemy. We halted where there 
was a grove on one side of the road and a dwel- 
ling-house on the other. We purchased a 
shoat from the matron of that domicile, who 
made us a stew that would have done credit 
to the Maypole Inn. After dinner, — the only 
meal worthy of that name that I had enjoyed 
for many months, — I took a musket, and leav- 



54 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

ing the men a short distance behind, took a 
stand in the middle of the road. No Yankee 
came in sight, but while I was there silently 
waiting and watching two large, beautiful 
wild turkeys walked with stately step across 
the road in easy range. Was I tempted to 
shoot? Yes. Did I do it? No; for I was 
particularly instructed that on no account 
must a gun be fired except on the enemy's ap- 
proach. The report would have been re- 
peated by squads in my rear, the camp would 
have been falsely alarmed, and I would have 
been justly court-martialed. 

The Army of the Potomac, 100,000 strong 
and commanded by General Burnside, once 
more took up the slogan, — "On to Richmond," 
— but that was more easily said than done. 
Before it reached the northern bank of the 
Rappahannock river, opposite Fredericks- 
burg, the ever-watchful Lee, having left the 
valley, had occupied the heights on the other 
side. Jackson's corps by rapid marches ar- 
rived at Fredericksburg on the nth of De- 
cember, none too soon for the impending con- 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 55 

flict, and took position on Longstreet's right. 
Nearly five miles from the town our brigade 
formed the extreme right of the Southern 
Army, which was an assignment of honor; 
and the 47th held the right of the brigade. 
The other brigades of Hill's Light Division 
formed on our left, Gregg's next to ours, and 
between the two on higher ground twenty 
pieces of artillery looked out across the field. 
Lee's army had the advantage of position, and 
had the rare pleasure of fighting on the defen- 
sive. It occupied the high ground that bor- 
ders the river flat, and which is close to the 
town, but, as it continues, recedes from the 
river, leaving an ever widening plain. On 
the morning of the memorable 13th that plain 
resounded to the martial tread of Burnside's 
army. 

Before the battle began General Lee, in- 
specting the disposition of his forces all along 
the line, rode up to where we stood, and dis- 
mounting from Traveller, handed the bridle- 
rein to an orderly. This was the first time 
that I saw him, and his appearance made an 



56 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

indelible impression upon my mind. What a 
noble man he was in form and face as well as 
in moral character! While he was examin- 
ing the outlying field I had a conversation 
with the orderly, who spoke of the General's 
fondness for his horse. 

Having observed that a few men of the Con- 
federate cavalry had brought up a piece of 
artillery in front of our right, I obtained per- 
mission of Colonel Mayo and ran forward to 
join them. Two Federal batteries came for- 
ward in a gallop and in a minute's time un- 
limbered and began firing against Hill's divi- 
sion, the twenty guns of which I have spoken 
giving them as good as they sent and a little 
better. The Yankees were so hotly engaged 
by the firing in front of them that they paid 
no attention to the little cavalry gun upon the 
flank. The first shot did no execution, but the 
next struck a caisson and exploded its contents. 

What more was done there I cannot say; 
for seeing that the Federal infantry were ad- 
vancing to the charge, I hastily returned to 
my position in the regiment. Our men, lying 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 57 

in a railroad cut about two feet deep, waited 
until the Yankees were close upon them, and 
then rising up poured such volleys upon them 
as caused them to retire in confusion ; but on 
our left Gregg's South Carolina brigade was 
broken through and he was killed. Being 
thereby severed from the rest of the army, we 
changed front and took the victorious Yankees 
in flank, causing them to lose their advantage 
and fall back to the railroad which they had 
crossed. Then occurred a pretty duel. The 
blue and the grey lines were about sixty yards 
apart and each was loading and firing as rap- 
idly as possible. The Federal general and 
his two aides on horseback were urging their 
men to charge, as was evident from their 
gestures; but their men would not respond. 
Being an officer I had no weapons but 
sword and pistol, but I picked up the musket 
of one of our men, who had loaded it but was 
killed before he could discharge it, and called 
on some of our company to shoot down the 
horsemen. We took deliberate aim and fired ; 
and down went horses and riders. "Now,'' 



58 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

said I, "shoot down the colors." Four times 
they fell, only to be quickly raised again. I 
would not affirm that the little group about 
me shot down the horsemen and the flag, for 
many others were shooting at the same time ; I 
only know that we calmly did our best in that 
direction. After a while the enemy turned 
and fled; and I was glad, for they had in- 
flicted on the 47th a loss of fifty men in killed 
and wounded. However, their loss greatly 
exceeded ours. The next day, when a truce 
prevailed for burying the dead and caring 
for the wounded, I was informed by some of 
the Union soldiers that the name of that gen- 
eral was Jackson. He was a brave man, de- 
serving a better fate, and he fell while nobly 
performing what he believed was his duty^to 
his country. 

It was the general and confident expectation 
that the battle would be renewed, and we 
were, therefore, surprised to discover on the 
morning of the 15th that the enemy had during 
the night recrossed to the northern side of the 
river. Their loss in the engagement was three 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 59 

times greater than ours. Burnside made the 
mistake of putting forth his greatest strength 
where the Confederates were strongest. If he 
had assailed our right as fiercely as he did our 
left, perhaps there might have been a different 
result. 

In a few days after the battle I was in- 
formed by Colonel Mayo that I was "for gal- 
lant and meritorious conduct promoted to be 
First Lieutenant and Adjutant of the 47th regi- 
ment." I had not thought of trying to make 
an exhibition of unusual gallantry among so 
many intrepid men, but, of course, the com- 
mendation and promotion were highly grati- 
fying. 

"The love of praise, howe'er concealed by art, 
Reigns more or less, and glows in ev'ry heart." 

The campaign having come to an end, Lee's 
army went into winter quarters at camp Gregg, 
so named in honor of Brigadier-General 
Maxcy Gregg who was killed in the battle of 
Fredericksburg. It was near Moss Neck, the 
large and fertile farm of Mr. Richard Corbin. 



6o REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

The Rappahannock river flowed between the 
Yankee and the Rebel armies, each picketing 
its own side of the stream. By common con- 
sent there was no shooting across the river, but 
on the other hand there was an occasional ex- 
change of tobacco and coffee by means of little 
boats. We could hear them impudently sing- 
ing: ''O soldiers, won't you meet us." We 
had met them on fields of carnage, and ex- 
pected to meet them again on the return of 
spring; but whether we should meet them 
^^On Canaan's happy shore," or in some less 
pleasing locality in the eternal world, who 
could say? 

I distinctly remember one night when my 
turn came to go to the river on picket duty, 
and the earth was covered with snow several 
inches deep. When my watch was off and the 
opportunity to sleep was afforded the question 
was, where to lie down. I spread on the snow 
some boughs that I had cut from a cedar tree 
and laid a gum cloth upon them. Upon this 
pallet I lay down and covering myself head 
and all with a blanket enjoyed sweet, refresh- 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 6i 

ing, and healthful sleep. The next morning 
the blanket above my head was stiff-frozen 
with the moisture from my breath. 

There was one man that should have been 
mentioned before this time, — a negro of my 
own age, whose name was Charles Wesley. 
We had grown up on the farm together, and 
had played, and boxed, and wrestled without 
respect to color. Not as a slave but as a friend 
he followed me to the war, — my launderer, 
my cook, and when I was sick, my nurse. 
Having orders to keep himself out of danger, 
he very willingly remained far in the rear 
when a battle was in progress, but when the 
firing ceased he faithfully sought me and 
reported for duty. While writing about 
Charles, I may anticipate a little and say that 
when we were in Pennsylvania I told him that 
we were on Yankee soil, and that he had the 
opportunity of deserting me and of remaining 
there as a free man. He replied that he al- 
ready knew that, but that he was going to 
abide with me. And when I was captured at 
Falling Waters he had the intelligence and 



62 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

fidelity to ride my horse home and deliver 
him to my brother. 

It was while we were encamped at Moss 
Neck that I witnessed a military execution 
for the offense of desertion from the 47th 
regiment. The criminal was on his knees, 
blindfolded, with his hands tied behind him to 
a stake. A short distance in front of him was 
the line of twenty men detailed to do the shoot- 
ing, and commanded by an officer especially 
appointed. No man could tell who did the 
killing, for the twenty muskets were handed to 
them, one-half of them being loaded with 
blank cartridges. The rest of the regiment 
was drawn up, one-half on the right, and the 
other on the left. At the word 'Tire!" the 
report of the guns rang out and the deserter 
fell forward pierced by balls. Death was in- 
stantaneous. Although the crime was mortal, 
the scene was painfully sad. 



CHAPTER VIII 

Nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a 
battle won. 

— ^Wellington. 

I DID not serve long as the adjutant of the 
47th regiment. In March, 1863, Com- 
pany I of the 40th regiment, having from 
one cause or another lost all its officers, unani- 
mously desired that I should become their 
captain, and this desire was approved by Col- 
onel Brockenbrough, who commanded that 
regiment, as well as by General Heth, who 
commanded the brigade. I was loath to 
sever connection from the regiment to which 
I had been attached since the beginning of the 
war, but I accepted the new position, because 
it was in the line of promotion, and the men 
of the company were from my native county 
and well known to me; moreover, I would 
still be in the same brigade with my old corn- 
ea 



64 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

rades of the 47th. My captain's commission 
was dated April 30, and was signed by James 
A. Seddon, Secretary of War. 

When the spring had come General Joseph 
Hooker, the successor of unfortunate Burn- 
side, having crossed the Rappahannock river, 
took up a strong position at Chancellorsville, 
with an army numerically twice as strong as 
the available Confederate forces, and declared 
by him to be "the finest army on the planet." 
At the same time a powerful detachment under 
General Sedgwick crossed the river below 
Fredericksburg and made demonstrations of 
attack upon the Confederate lines. Never 
was General Lee confronted by a more peril- 
ous situation, and never did his military genius 
more brilliantly appear. 

In war so much depends upon the comman- 
der, that I advance the confident opinion that 
if the Confederates had been under the charge 
of Hooker and Sedgwick, and Lee and Jack- 
son had had command of the Federal soldiers 
above and below Fredericksburg, the Confed- 
erate army would have been destroyed ; and the 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 65 

Army of the Potomac would have walked 
straight into Richmond. That army would 
indeed have been "the finest on the planet," 
if the skill and the courage of its commander 
had equaled its numbers, its aggressive power, 
and its opulent equipment. 

Hooker had a grand opportunity, but in- 
gloriously failed to use it. He had conceived 
a good plan of action, and he successfully exe- 
cuted its initial movement; but when the 
decisive hour arrived his resolution failed. In- 
stead of advancing aggressively on to Freder- 
icksburg, as he had begun to do, he turned 
back and fortified his army with intrench- 
ments. Did he mistrust himself, or his army, 
or both? His original scheme contemplated 
offensive tactics, and all its merit was sacrificed 
when he began to erect defensive fortifications. 

Let me here briefly describe Chancellors- 
ville and its environments as I saw them dur- 
ing the battle. There was no village there, 
but only a large brick tavern with a few out- 
buildings, located immediately on the north 
side of the road that connects Fredericksburg 



66 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

and Orange. In the rear it was separated 
from the forest by a narrow field, while in 
front and across the road there was a large 
space of open land. In the direction of 
Orange the road and fields declined to a 
wooded ravine. On the slightly elevated 
land in front of the tavern the Yankees had 
unlimbered twenty Napoleon cannon, and 
along the side of the ravine they had erected 
breastworks of logs and earth. 

Late in the afternoon of Friday, May i, our 
brigade had marched up from Fredericksburg 
and halted in striking distance of the Federal 
army. What could we expect but that in the 
morning we should be waging an assault upon 
its fortified position? Instead of that Jackson 
led us with the rest of his corps around the 
front of that position until we struck the road 
on the Orange side of Chancellorsville. We 
were now on Hooker's right flank, having 
marched quickly and silently fifteen miles over 
a rough and unfrequented road. The sun was 
sinking toward the western horizon when our 
lines of attack were formed on both sides of 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 67 

the road and at right angles to it. Imme- 
diately the onslaught began, silent, rapid, reso- 
lute, Heth's brigade being on the north or left 
side of the road. We had not proceeded far 
before we struck Howard's corps all unsus- 
pecting and unprepared. Their fires were 
kindled for cooking supper, and dressed beeves 
were ready for distribution among the com- 
panies. They fled before us, strewing the 
ground with muskets, knapsacks, and other ac- 
couterments. Whoever censures them for 
running would probably have acted as they 
did, for our charge was as lightning from a 
cloudless sky. On the way we crossed a little 
fram, and as I passed the dwelling I saw sev- 
eral ladies who were wildly rejoicing. 

When we had come within half a mile of 
Chancellorsville daylight had faded into 
night. The moon had risen, but her rays 
were rendered intermittent by scudding 
clouds. The darkness, the tangled under- 
growth of the forest, and the entrenchments 
and artillery of the enemy combined to arrest 
our progress. Those cannon of which I have 



68 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

spoken shelled the woods in which we lay, 
and what a cannonade it was! The trees and 
bushes trembled, the air was laden with 
sulphurous fumes, the very earth seemed to 
quake under the impulse of exploding shells. 
There was, however, more noise than execu- 
tion ; only one man of my company was struck, 
and his broken jaw was bound up by my 
handkerchief. 

From my position on the roadside I saw a 
few riderless horses running terror-stricken to 
the rear. These were, I believe, the animals 
that Jackson and his aides had ridden to the 
front. It is recorded that he was wounded 
by some soldiers of the i8th North Carolina 
regiment who were in the brigade of Gen- 
eral James H. Lane. If this statement were 
made on less reliable authority it might be 
questioned ; for I know that the Yankees were 
close to our front and that Jackson could not 
have ridden far beyond our line without en- 
countering their volley. We did not hear un- 
til next morning that our peerless leader had 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 69 

been shot. Alas! As when Hector fell the 
doom of Troy was sealed, so with the death 
of Jackson the star of the Southern Confed- 
eracy declined. 

Late in the night the firing ceased, and the 
Gray and the Blue lay on their arms, catch- 
ing brief snatches of troubled sleep, and abid- 
ing the renewal of hostilities with the coming 
morning. 

On the bright and pleasant Sunday that en- 
sued no chiming bells nor melodies of sacred 
music were heard upon that famous field, but 
only the cries of antagonistic men and the hor- 
rid din of batteries and muskets. Our brigade 
being transferred to the right side of the road 
and drawn up in line of battle in the forest, it 
was not long before the renowned Stonewall 
brigade passed by us and charged upon the 
breastworks of the enemy. It was repulsed 
with heavy loss, the Yankees having prepon- 
derating advantage of position. Then Pen- 
der's intrepid brigade of North Carolinians 
had a similar experience. There were no 



70 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

braver soldiers in the army than the men com- 
posing these two defeated brigades. When, 
therefore, the command to charge was given 
to us, could we hope for a better result? As 
we advanced a shell struck the ground im- 
mediately before me, exploded and covered 
me with dirt, but providentially inflicted no 
wounds. Onward we rushed with the usual 
inspiriting Rebel yell. When we came in sight 
of those formidable rifle pits we were de- 
lighted to find them abandoned by our foes; 
and when we climbed over them and entered 
the field just beyond them we were no less 
glad to discover that those batteries that had 
so noisily shelled us the night before had been 
withdrawn. 

There in full view toward our left stood 
Chancellor's tavern, and the large field in 
front was literally filled with Federal soldiers 
in perfect array marching northward, — that 
is, to the rear. The retreat of Hooker's army 
had begun; they were not whipped but out- 
generaled. Passing across the road by the 
tavern and entering the forest behind it, they 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 71 

left not in sight a single blue coat, save that a 
battery in the tavern yard was firing upon us. 
Two Confederate batteries galloped up to our 
line, and, unlimbering, opened upon the bat- 
tery in the yard at close range. There were 
in the Southern armies many soldiers in their 
teens, but here at one of the guns labored a 
boy who was, as I guessed from his size, not 
more than twelve years old. It was his part 
to fire the gun by pulling the lanyard, and as 
often as he did it he playfully rolled over 
backward. "Boys will be boys" even in the 
peril of battle. In the meantime Jeb Stuart, 
temporarily assigned to the command of Jack- 
son's corps, came riding into the field, and in a 
spirit not unlike that of the boy was singing, 
"Old Joe Hooker, won't you get out the 
wilderness ?" The Yankee battery withdrew ; 
the battle was ended. The tavern was all 
ablaze, having been ignited by one of our 
shells, — the house that an hour before had been 
the headquarters of General Hooker. Our 
army was resting along the road in front of the 
burning building. As General Lee rode by, 



72 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

a waggish fellow of the 47th said, "General, 
we are too tired to cheer you this morning," 
and he pleasantly replied, "Well, boys, you 
have gotten glory enough for one day." 



CHAPTER IX 

He that fights and runs away 
May turn and fight another day. 

—Ray. 

AFTER the lamented death of General 
Jackson the divisions of the Army of 
Northern Virginia were organized 
into three corps, commanded, respectively, by 
Longstreet, Ewell, and A. P. Hill. General 
Heth was assigned to the command of the 
Light Division, and the senior colonel of the 
first brigade, John M. Brockenbrough took 
the command made vacant by Heth's pro- 
motion. 

In forming his staff Colonel Brockenbrough 
selected me to be his acting assistant adjutant- 
general. As this new sphere of duty required 
that I should have a horse, and as it was useless 
to search for one in the neighborhood of 
Fredericksburg, I sought and obtained a fur- 

73 



74 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

lough in order that I might seek one in my 
native county. The time was limited to five 
days, — not long enough, as Colonel Brocken- 
brough knew; but there was an understanding 
between us that if I overstayed the limit noth- 
ing would be said about it. 

A tramp of a hundred miles was before me, 
but that was a matter of indifiference to my 
buoyant body and practiced feet. It was my 
intention to cross the river at Tappahannock, 
and proceed down the Neck to my brother's 
home, but the southern bank was picketed by 
the 15th Virginia cavalry, which prohibited 
my passage. Walking back into the town 
and finding Colonel John Critcher, who was 
in command of the regiment, I explained my 
mission and requested the liberty of passing 
through his line. He informed me that on 
the other side the 8th Illinois cavalry were 
making a raid, and urged that I should not 
cross and run the risk of being captured. 
Telling him that I was familiar with the 
country and that I would avoid the enemy, I 
persisted in the request, being as desirous of 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 75 

a horse as was Richard III in his final battle. 
Having obtained his reluctant written per- 
mission I decided that instead of crossing at 
Tappahannock I would walk down as far as 
Owen Hill in Middlesex county and thence 
seek a passage over into Lancaster. A 
negro, whose service I secured in return for 
Confederate money, transported me in a 
canoe, and landed me at Morattico. During 
the passage I kept a sharp lookout up and 
down the wide river for Yankee gunboats, 
fearing that even if I should escape Scylla I 
might fall into Charybdis; and indeed some 
of the marauding bluecoats had but recently 
departed from the farm. 

Having dined with the hospitable family, 
I set out for my brother's home fifteen miles 
away, not knowing that one part of the enemy 
was encamped on his farm and another part 
in the yard. Being informed that the hostile 
invaders were traversing all parts of the 
county in search of booty, I sought to evade 
them by walking not upon the familiar roads 
but in the woods parallel with them. When 



76 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

I drew near the county-seat, instead of cross- 
ing the road as prudence suggested I thought 
I would walk the road a short distance and 
then pass over, for my shoes had become un- 
comfortably smooth by treading on the fallen 
foliage of the pines. Rash procedure! 

I had come into the road near what is 
called "the court-house mill hill," intending 
to go down, cross the bridge, and turn again 
into the woods in the rear of the village, 
scouting as I proceeded. When I had come 
nearly to the brow of the hill, I met a 
squadron of ascending Federal horsemen. 
If I had been two minutes earlier and they as 
much later we would have met as I was de- 
scending the hill; and then my capture would 
have been inevitable, because the steep banks 
on either side would have precluded all hope 
of escape. I heard the foremost riders say, 
"Here're the Rebels, boys; come on." I did 
not wait to see more than their heads and 
breasts as they were coming up the hill. I 
was in my full uniform, having a gray over- 
coat on my shoulder and a felt hat on my 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 77 

head. In the twinkling of an eye the coat 
was dropped, and the hat flew off as I made 
such a leap into the friendly forest as perhaps 
was never equaled by any athlete in the Olym- 
pic games. I had no time to become fright- 
ened, but I was angered by being pursued 
on my native soil by men who had no 
right to invade it. It is a wonder that they 
did not catch me. I heard them swearing, 
crying ''Halt," and firing pistols. Three 
things favored me: the trees and undergrowth 
were coming into leaf, I was fleet of foot, and 
I took an unsuspected direction. Instead of 
running at right angles to the road, or ob- 
liquely backward, I ran obliquely forward, 
in the direction from which they had come. 
When I was nearly out of breath, I stopped 
to listen, and was glad to hear no sounds save 
those that were made by my thumping heart. 
The pursuit had ended, and I lay down to 
rest and to recover my wind, — not unlike the 
stag that had been chased by Fitz James' 
hounds. 

In a little while rising refreshed from my 



78 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

rest, I went onward and crossing the mill 
stream higher up than I had purposed, I ar- 
rived at the residence of my cousin Robert. 
I had been there but a few minutes when his 
wife, who had glanced up the lane, cried out, 
^'Run, run; the Yankees are coming!" At 
the first utterance of the word ^'run," I was 
making rapid tracks for the forest in the rear 
of the house; but before I reached it she 
called me back. Two of the Yankees had 
been there before, and her excited imagina- 
tion had mistaken a Rebel officer for two 
more. It was her brother-in-law, Ned 
Stakes, major of the 40th Virginia. He 
and I then set out for a place near Wicomico 
church, where, as he told me, a few Confed- 
erates were in hiding. Having spent the 
night with them in the forest, we were in the 
morning informed by a faithful negro, who 
had been acting as commissary, that the 
Yankees had all gone. Although I trusted 
his report, it was with circumspection that I 
traveled homeward. 

The departed Yankees had carried away 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 79 

teams and wagons loaded with plunder from 
meat-houses, barns, and cabins, and as many 
of the negroes as desired to take advantage of 
"the year of jubile?" which old Spencer said 
"had come." One girl, who refused to de- 
part, was thus upbraided by her father: 
"You's a fool, gal, not to go where there's a 
plenty to eat and nothing to do." That regi- 
ment of cavalry had robbed my brother, and 
had treated many other peaceable citizens in 
the same way. Large was the booty they 
carried away, and long was the train of 
negroes, horses, and loaded wagons. It is 
said that "all things are lawful in war"; but 
this adage, like many others, sails under 
false colors. War is lawless, as Cicero ob- 
served : ''Silent leges inter arma/' There was 
neither constitutional nor statute law that 
justified the invasion of the South by armies 
from the North; none for the emancipation 
proclamation; none for the cruel and de- 
structive deeds that were perpetrated by the 
Federal armies. 

My furlough had run out, and my object 



8o REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

was yet ungained. The next day I found a 
bay horse to my liking, five years old, large, 
tall, and strong, named John. The owner 
sold him to me for Confederate money, know- 
ing that the sale bore close resemblance to a 
gift. After a night's rest I set out for the 
army. Riding in the wake of the retiring 
sons of Illinois, I recrossed the river at Bow- 
ler's, and on the second day rejoined the 
brigade near Fredericksburg. After having 
been chased by the Yankees, a feeling of 
safety came over me as I mingled again with 
my veteran companions. 

That was not to be my last experience with 
the 8th Illinois. It w^as they who in less than 
two months afterward took me prisoner in 
Maryland. Some of them were riding horses 
that they had stolen, — no; impressed, — from 
my county. They showed me their repeat- 
ing Spencer 'carbines, and asked that if I 
should be exchanged I would tell the 9th 
Virginia cavalry that they would be glad to 
meet them. The lapse of fifty years has 
made old men of them and me. I have for- 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 8i 

given the wrongs those brave fellows inflicted 
on my country, and I would be glad to meet 
them to talk over the stirring events of the 
past. 



CHAPTER X 

Hand to hand, and foot to foot; 
Nothing there, save death, was mute; 
Stroke, and thrust, and flash, and cry 
For quarter, or for victory. 
Mingled with the volleying thunder. 

— ^Byron. 

I COME now to relate my experience of 
the disastrous invasion of Pennsyl- 
vania. 
The first week in June the commands of 
Longstreet and Ewell began the northward 
movement, but Hill's corps remained at 
Fredericksburg to deceive the Federal com- 
mander and watch his movements. It was 
not until the middle of the month that Hooker 
divined Lee's purpose and withdrew his army 
from our front, leaving us free to follow the 
rest of the army. Marching through Cul- 
peper, we crossed the mountains through 
Chester's Gap and struck out for the ford of 

82 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 83 

the Potomac at Williamsport. I had four 
times waded the river, but this time, being on 
horseback, I escaped a wetting by holding my 
feet high on the saddle. My spirits would 
not have been so light and gay, if I could have 
foreknown that I should not lay eyes on the 
river again until the war should be over. 
Nothing of moment occurred while we passed 
across Maryland into Pennsylvania. 

Tuesday night, June 30, our division 
bivouacked near Cashtown, about eight miles 
northwest of Gettysburg. The next morning 
Colonel Brockenbrough was informed that 
Pettigrew's brigade was on the way to Gettys- 
burgh to obtain shoes for the men, and was 
ordered to follow as a support in the contin- 
gency of need, none of us knowing that the 
advance of Meade's army occupied a strong 
position between us and the town. I was 
riding with Colonel Brockenbrough at the 
head of the column when we met Pettigrew 
and his men returning. He informed us that 
the enemy was ahead and that as he had not 
received orders to bring on an engagement he 



84 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

was coming back to report. As to the source 
of his information I had no doubt, for by his 
side was a man on horseback, bearing an um- 
brella, and dressed in a suit of civil clothes. 
After a brief consultation between the com- 
manders of the two brigades I was ordered to 
ride back quickly to Heth's headquarters, re- 
port the condition of affairs, and bring back 
his instructions. With a brusque manner, 
he said, ^'Tell General Pettigrew not to butt 
too hard, or he'll butt his brains out." I 
translated his command into politer terms, 
and we started again toward Gettysburg, 
knowing that Heth would follow with the 
other four brigades of the division. 

We found the enemy posted on a ridge just 
beyond Willoughby's Run, and deploying on 
both sides of the road we went into the en- 
gagement. We had the honor, — if honor it 
may be called, — of losing and shedding the 
first blood in one of the most famous battles 
of the world. In war things sometimes just 
happen: the Army of the Potomac and the 
Army of Northern Virginia came into col- 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 85 

lision at a place where neither commander 
designed a general engagement. Pender's 
division formed on the right of Heth's and 
both pressed forward in the face of volleying 
musketry and thundering cannon. We found 
out afterward that the opposing force con- 
sisted of the three divisions of the First Corps 
under the command of General Reynolds. 
Right bravely did they fight, and being 
driven from the ridge they formed again on 
Seminary Ridge, determined to hold it. As 
our men, on the other hand, were no less de- 
termined to take it, the contest became furious 
and slaughterous. Our loss was heavy, but 
did not equal that which we inflicted. At 
last they gave way, and we pursued them to 
the edge of the town, through the streets of 
which they hastened until they lodged among 
the rocky fastness of Cemetery Ridge. I 
was in all the great battles, from Seven Pines 
to Chancellorsville, but never had I witnessed 
a fight so hot and stubborn. On a field of 
battle the dead and mortally wounded are 
usually scattered promiscuously on the 



86 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

ground, but here I counted more than fifty 
fallen heroes lying in a straight line. They 
belonged, as well as I now remember, to the 
150th Pennsylvania. When a regiment stands 
its ground until it suffers so great a loss, it 
deserves honor for its courage, for the 
wounded must have numbered as many as two 
hundred and fifty. It is a rare thing that a 
regiment loses so many men in one engage- 
ment. 

At the same time that we were struggling 
with the First Corps of Meade's army the 
divisions of Rhodes and Early on our left 
were driving the Eleventh Corps before them. 
But of the gallant part they bore in the battle 
I make no mention, inasmuch as I am not 
writing a general history, but only jotting 
down the things I saw, a small part of which 
I was. 

When the battle had ended and the brigade 
was standing in line close to the town. Colonel 
Brockenbrough and I occupied positions in 
rear of the line; and near us were Capt. 
Austin Brockenbrough and Lt. Addison Hall 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 87 

Crittenden. First one and then the other of 
these two gallant officers fell mortally 
wounded, although no Yankee was in sight. 
It was the work of sharpshooters concealed in 
a large wooden building on our left. I took 
the liberty of causing a company to fire a vol- 
ley into the house and that put a stop to the 
murderous villainy. 

It was nearly midnight when the brigade 
fell back a short distance to seek some rest 
after the severe toils of the day; but notwith- 
standing the lateness of the hour and our 
tired condition I proposed to Colonel Brock- 
enbrough that we should look up these two 
men who were especially dear to us, for Aus- 
tin was his cousin and Addison was mine. 
We knew that they had been carried on 
stretchers from the place where they had been 
wounded. Our only guides as we slowly 
rode along in the dark were the fires that in- 
dicated the location of the improvised hos- 
pitals of the numerous brigades. Inquiring 
our way, we at last came to the hospital of our 
brigade where Mr. Meredith, chaplain of the 



88 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

47th, conducted us to our friends who were 
lying upon pallets of straw. They knew that 
their wounds were mortal, but they faced 
^'the last enemy" with the same intrepidity 
they had manifested on many a sanguinary 
field. If I had yielded to my emotions, I 
would have wept over Addison even as a 
woman weeps. He was named for my 
mother's only brother; he was pure in heart; 
and while he was gentle and sweet in manners 
and disposition, he was as brave as any man 
who followed Lee across the Potomac. 

By some critics General Lee has been cen- 
sured because he did not continue the battle 
and attempt to capture Cemetery Ridge on 
the evening of the first day. I think that the 
criticism is unjust; for, in the first place, the 
attempt would have been of doubtful issue, 
and then if he had tried and succeeded, what 
advantage would have been gained? It was 
clearly Meade's role to act on the defensive 
and select the arena upon which the decisive 
contest must be waged. If Cemetery Ridge 
had been taken, instead of hurrying his other 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 89 

corps to that position to form a junction with 
the First and Eleventh, he would have retired 
behind Pipe Creek, or chosen some other 
ground as easily tenable as Cemetery Ridge. 
The state of things was such that Lee could 
not retreat without a general engagement, and 
he could not enter upon it except upon dis- 
advantageous conditions. The tables were 
turned: as the Yankees had fought at Fred- 
ericksburg, so the Rebels had to fight in 
Pennsylvania. 

On the second day Heth's division was not 
engaged, but occupied the ground near that 
on which it had fought the day before, close 
by the seminary in which General Lee had 
his headquarters. In the afternoon while 
Longstreet's corps was furiously fighting to 
wrest Little Round Top from the enemy, he 
came unattended to where I was standing. 
Looking down the valley of Plum Run, 
which separated the armies, there could be 
seen the flashing of the guns under the pall of 
smoke that covered the combatants. Now 
and then making a slight change of position 



90 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

he viewed the scene through his field-glass. 
His noble face was not lit up with a smile as 
it was when I saw it after the victory at 
Chancellorsville, but bore the expression of 
painful anxiety. Ah, if only his men could 
seize and hold that coveted elevation! It 
was the key to the situation, and victory would 
have been assured. But that battle was lost, 
although the divisions of Longstreet per- 
formed prodigies of valor. Then and there 
the issue was decided. 

That night Heth's division moved farther 
to the right. Being directed by Colonel 
Brockenbrough to ride ahead and pick out a 
place for his brigade, I went forward in the 
darkness, ignorant of the lay of the land, until 
the command to halt was given to me in an 
undertone. I did not see the man, but was 
informed that I was just about to ride through 
the line of Confederate skirmishers, and was 
cautioned to ride back as quietly as I could, 
because the Yankee skirmishers were not far 
in front. 

On the morning of the 3d of July, although 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 91 

Ewell's corps on the left had waged a bloody 
but unsuccessful battle, not a shot was fired by 
Hill's corps in the center, nor by Longstreet's 
on the right; but the final struggle was yet to 
be made. More than a hundred cannon 
were placed in position, along the line of 
which lay the eighteen thousand men, who 
had been selected to make the assault upon 
Cemetery Ridge. Before the firing began 
Colonel Brockenbrough told me that when 
the cannonading should cease we should 
make the charge. 

About one o'clock the guns opened, and 
for two dreadful hours pounded the adver- 
sary's position, being answered by almost as 
many of his guns. There has never been 
such a war of artillery on the American con- 
tinent. Surely this was an exhibition of the 
^Tride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious 
War." It was hoped that so terrible a bom- 
bardment would demoralize the enemy and 
thus prepare the way for a successful on- 
slaught of the infantry. During its continu- 
ance we lay among the guns, and as soon as 



92 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

their clamor hushed sprang to our feet and 
began rushing toward the enemy. We had 
to descend the slope of Seminary Ridge, cross 
a valley, and ascend the steep slope of Ceme- 
tery Ridge, a distance of nearly a mile. If 
while we were crossing the valley the artillery 
behind us had been firing at the enemy over 
our heads, our task would have been less dan- 
gerous and more hopeful, but unwisely and 
unfortunately the caissons had become almost 
exhausted. As we were ascending the emi- 
nence, where cannon thundered in our faces 
and infantry four lines deep stood ready to 
deliver their volleys, I noticed that the line 
of the Confederates resembled the arc of a 
circle; in other words, the right and the left 
were more advanced than the center, and 
were, therefore, the first to become engaged. 
Brockenbrough's brigade formed the extreme 
left of the attacking column. 

The fame of Pickett's charge on the right 
has resounded through the world. The Vir- 
ginians on the left achieved less glory, but 
they did their best. We came so close to the 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 93 

serried ranks of the Yankees that I emptied 
my revolver upon them, and we were still 
advancing when they threw forward a 
column to attack our unprotected left flank. 
I feel no shame in recording that out of this 
corner the men without waiting for orders 
turned and fled, for the bravest soldiers can- 
not endure to be shot at simultaneously from 
the front and side. They knew that to re- 
main, or to advance, meant wholesale death 
or captivity. The Yankees had a fair oppor- 
tunity to kill us all, and why they did not do 
it I cannot tell. Our loss was less than it 
was in the first day's battle. As in our 
orderly and sullen retreat we were ascending 
the ridge from which we had set out, I heard 
the men saying ijiournfully, "If Old Jack had 
been here, it wouldn't have been like this"; 
and though I said nothing I entertained the 
same opinion. 

Suppose he had been there to turn the 
enemy's left flank as he did at Gaines' Mill, 
and again at Chancellorsville! 

As I look back upon that final assault at 



94 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

Gettysburg, it seems strange to me that Gen- 
eral Lee should have sent eighteen thousand 
men to dislodge a hundred thousand from a 
position much stronger than that which Well- 
ington occupied at Waterloo. Perhaps he 
miscalculated the effect of the cannonade; 
perhaps he reposed too much confidence in 
his soldiers. When all was over he found no 
fault with them, but most magnanimously 
took the blame of defeat upon himself and 
endured great mental suffering. Adverse 
criticism is swallowed up in sympathy for 
that peerless man. 

It was a drawn battle. The Army of 
Northern Virginia had not been beaten, but 
it had failed in the attempt to beat the Army 
of the Potomac. All day long on the 4th of 
July it remained in view of Meade's army, 
but he dared not assail it. 

There was nothing left but to return to 
Virginia. On the night of the 4th of July 
the army began to retreat, and on the 7th it 
halted near Hagerstown and offered battle, 
which Meade refused. It seems to me that 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 95 

he did not press the pursuit as closely and 
fiercely as he might have done; perhaps he 
was respecting the valor that he had lately 
witnessed. 



CHAPTER XI 

A prison is a house of care, 
A place where none can thrive, 
A touchstone true to try a friend, 
A grave for men alive. 
— Inscription on the Old Prison of Edinburg. 

AFTER falling back from Hagers- 
town the army took up a strong posi- 
tion near the Potomac, extending from 
Williamsport to Falling Waters. On the 
night of the 13th of July the retreat to Vir- 
ginia began. The division of Heth and that 
of Pender, now commanded by Pettigrew, 
marched all night long in a drenching rain 
and over a very muddy road toward Falling 
Waters, where the engineers had constructed 
a pontoon bridge across the river. When the 
morning dawned we were about two miles 
from the river, and, so far as I know, there 
was no reason why we should not have kept 
on and followed the rest of the army over the 

96 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 97 

bridge. Instead of that we halted and 
formed in line of battle across the road, fac- 
ing northward, Heth on the right and Petti- 
grew on the left, well located for defense, 
being on rising ground and having a valley 
in front. It was supposed that our cavalry- 
were between us and the enemy, (which was 
a false supposition,) and, contrary to well- 
established military rules, no skirmishers 
were sent to the front. The command was 
given to stack arms and rest, and the men ex- 
hausted by fatigue lay down on the wet 
ground behind the line of muskets and soon 
went to sleep. The guns were wet and 
muddy and many of them were either un- 
loaded or unfit for action. Giving my horse 
to Charles to be held in the rear until called 
for, I too fell asleep. We were in no condi- 
tion for anything except the surprise that 
startled us from our transitory slumbers. 

We were awakened by the firing of the 
enemy. By the time that the muskets could 
be retaken from the stack, squadrons of 
cavalry were upon us. These were easily re- 



98 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

pulsed, not, however, until riding down in 
front of our line they had mortally wounded 
General Pettigrew at the head of his division. 
General Heth, riding rapidly along behind 
our line, was crying out, ''Keep cool, men, 
keep cool!" But judging from the tone of 
his voice and his manner of riding, he seemed 
to me to be the only hot man on the field. 

The color-bearer of the 47th exclaimed, 
"Come on, boys; it's nothing but cavalry," 
and ran forward into the valley, showing 
more bravery than intelligence or discipline, 
for infantry does not charge cavalry, and he 
had no right to advance without an order. 
The color-bearers of the other regiments of 
the brigades, not to be outdone, likewise ad- 
vanced, and some of the bolder spirits fol- 
lowed their respective flags. This action was 
so unwise that I requested Colonel Brocken- 
brough to authorize me to recall these brave 
fellows to their original and better position; 
but, to my surprise, he directed me to order 
all the men to join their colors; and this I 
tried to do, but the men would not obey, say- 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 99 

ing that their muskets were unfit for action. 
However, I went myself, though Colonel 
Brockenbrough and many men of the brigade 
remained behind. I never saw him again. 

A spirited contest ensued, which I shall 
dignify with the name of the battle of Fall- 
ing Waters, for a real battle it was, although 
it is not mentioned in the histories that I have 
read, and the number engaged was small. 
On one side were portions of the four regi- 
ments of Brockenbrough's brigade, with their 
bullet-pierced battle flags, and on the other 
side were dismounted men of the 8th Illinois 
cavalry regiment armed with their seven- 
shooting carbines. There were officers pres- 
ent who held higher rank than mine, but, as 
they knew me to be of the brigade staff, they 
permitted me to exercise authority over the 
entire force. For an hour we held the Yan- 
kees in check at close quarters. 

While the action was in progress I ob- 
served that one of our enemies was protected 
by a large tree in the field, from behind which 
he stepped frequently and quickly to fire 



loo REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

upon us. As he seemed to be taking special 
aim at me, I requested one of our men, who 
had a beautiful Colt's rifle, to give me his 
gun, and I shot at the man the next time he 
emerged from behind his natural protection. 
He was not killed, but he darted back with- 
out shooting. I handed back the gun. Then, 
with my right arm around the man, I was 
with my left arm pointing out the enemy 
when he fired at us and broke the arm of my 
comrade that was pressed between us. 

Seeing another regiment of cavalry in 
front, hearing their bugle sound the charge, 
and knowing that our ammunition was nearly 
exhausted, I directed all the men to retire as 
quickly as possible to their former position. 
I had not once looked back, and I supposed 
that the two divisions were where we had left 
them; but they, taking advantage of our de- 
fense, had gone across the river. All of a 
sudden it flashed through my mind that we 
could neither fight nor run. Further resist- 
ance was vain; escape, impossible. I felt 
angry because we had been sacrificed, and 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL loi 

chagrined because we were about to be cap- 
tured. I had known all along that I might 
be killed or wounded, but it had never en- 
tered my mind that I might be made a 
prisoner. As we were scattered upon the 
field and the squadrons came charging among 
us, a group of men gathered about me were 
asking, ^'Captain, what shall we do?" 
^'Stand still," I replied, "and cast your mus- 
kets upon the ground." At the same time 
I unbuckled my useless pistol and sword and 
cast them from me. After we had surrend- 
ered, I regretfully record that a cavalryman 
discharged his pistol in our midst, but for- 
tunately no one of us was struck. An officer, 
indignant at an act so cowardly and barbarous, 
threatened him with death if he should do 
the like again. That day the Yankees cap- 
tured on this field and in other places about 
thirty-five officers and seven hundred men. 

The prisoners were escorted to the rear, 
huddled together, and surrounded by a 
cordon of armed men. That night I slept 
with Lt. W. Peyton Moncure on the blanket 



I02 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

of one prisoner and covered by that of the 
other. In the afternoon of the next day, as 
I was standing near the living wall that sur- 
rounded us engaged in conversation with Col. 
William S. Christian, of the 55th Virginia, 
and Capt. Lee Russell, of North Carolina, 
some Federal officers approached and began 
to talk with us. One of them was the colonel 
of a New York regiment, (I think it was the 
I22d) ; another was the captain of one of his 
companies, and another was an officer on the 
staff of General Meade. The Colonel in- 
vited us to take supper with him and some of 
his friends, and the kind and unexpected pro- 
posal was gladly accepted, for recently we 
had had nothing but hard-tack to satiate our 
hunger. At sunset he sent a guard to con- 
duct us to his tent, which was large and com- 
fortable. We found the table well supplied 
with a variety of savory eatables, and we were 
struck by the contrast of the tent and the 
table with those of the Rebels. 

The Blue and the Gray gathered around 
that hospitable board as gleeful as boys, and 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 103 

as friendly as men who had been companions 
from childhood. The supper being ended, a 
polite negro who looked like an Old Virginia 
darky, and who acted in the two-fold ca- 
pacity of cook and butler, cleared away the 
dishes and supplied their place with cigars 
and bottles of liquor of several varieties. 
More than once or twice the bottles passed 
from hand to hand, and in order to prevent 
drunkenness I was cautious to pour very 
sparingly into my tumbler. In the midst of 
this hilarious scene our Yankee host proposed 
a health to President Lincoln, which we of 
the Gray declined to drink; whereupon I of- 
fered to substitute a joint health to Abe Lin- 
coln and Jeff. Davis, which they of the Blue 
rejected. I then proposed the toast, "The 
early termination of the war to the satisfac- 
tion of all concerned," and that was cordially 
drunk by all. It was nearly midnight when 
the Colonel told us that if we would promise 
to go back and deliver ourselves up, he would 
not call a guard to escort us ; and we gave him 
our word, and bade him good night. There 



I04 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

we were in the darkness, our limbs unfettered, 
our hearts longing for freedom, no Yankee 
eye upon us; and it is not strange that there 
flitted across our minds the temptation to 
steal away and strike out for Virginia; but 
though our bodies were for the moment free, 
our souls were bound by something stronger 
than manacles of steel, — our word of honor. 
We groped our way back, entered the circle 
of soldiers who were guarding our fellow- 
prisoners, and went to sleep on the ground, 
while our late entertainers reposed upon 
comfortable cots. 

The next morning, July i6, we were hur- 
ried along by an unfeeling cavalry escort to 
a station near Harper's Ferry, and there put 
into box cars strongly guarded. On our 
arrival in Washington we were conducted 
along the streets to the Old Capitol prison. 
"To what vile uses" had that building come! 
It was superintended by a renegade Vir- 
ginian, whose name I am not sorry that I 
have forgotten ; but let me do him the justice 
to say that he behaved courteously and gave 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL loq 

us a plenty to eat. The guard of the prison 
was the 178th New York regiment, composed 
of insolent Germans, some of whom could 
not speak the English language. I came 
near losing my life by the bayonet of one of 
them, because he could not understand a re- 
quest that I made of him. The house was 
infested by insects whose name I will not call ; 
but the reader will recognize their nature 
when I characterize them as malodorous, 
and blood-sucking. We could expel them 
from our bunks, but not from the walls and 
the ceiling, from the holes and the cracks of 
which they swarmed at night, rendering 
sound sleep impossible. 

In a few days after having taken involun- 
tary quarters in the Old Capitol I read with 
surprise and grief an article in the Baltimore 
American, headed ''Meade versus Lee." 
General Lee, misinformed by somebody, had 
reported that there had been no battle at 
Falling Waters, and that none of his soldiers 
had been captured except those who had 
straggled during the night or fallen asleep in 



io6 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

barns by the roadside. When he published 
that statement he knew that there had been 
no engagement of his ordering, but he did 
not know that the gallant and accomplished 
Pettigrew had been wounded on the field, nor 
that some of his men had kept the enemy in 
check, while others were thereby afforded the 
opportunity of safely crossing the river. 
No; the men who were captured with me 
were not stragglers: they were taken on the 
field of battle, and they were as brave and 
dutiful as any that ever wore the gray. 
Neither was General Meade's report strictly 
correct, but it corresponded more closely with 
the facts. He did not capture a brigade, as 
he said, but he did take the flags of Brocken- 
brough's brigade, and enough men of other 
commands to form one. 

During the whole term of my imprison- 
ment I anxiously longed to be exchanged, 
being willing any day to swap incarceration 
for the toils and dangers of active military 
service. In the early part of the war there 
were some partial exchanges, but as it was 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 107 

prolonged the government at Washington re- 
jected all overtures for a cartel. Through- 
out the North there were raised loud and 
false reports that Federal soldiers in South- 
ern prisons were being wantonly maltreated, 
while the National Government might have 
restored them to freedom and plenty by 
agreeing to the exchange of prisoners that 
was urged repeatedly by the Confederate 
Government. The refusal was an evidence 
of the straits to which the Union was pushed, 
and an act of injustice and cruelty to the 
prisoners of both sides. It was, moreover, 
an undesigned but exalted testimony to the 
valor of Southern soldiers, for it was as if 
Mr. Stanton, the secretary of war, had said 
to every man in the Federal armies: "If in 
the fortunes of war you should be captured, 
you must run the risk of death in a rebel 
prison. I will not give a Southern soldier 
for you, — you are not worth the exchange." 
Gen. Grant said: '^Our men must suffer for 
the good of those who are contending with 
the terrible Lee;" and ignoring the claims 



io8 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

of humanity and the usages of honorable war- 
fare, he lowered the question to a cold com- 
mercial level when he declared that it was 
^'cheaper to feed rebel prisoners than to fight 
them.'' 



CHAPTER XII 

But now we are in prison and likely long to stay, 
The Yankees they are guarding us, no hope to get away; 
Our rations they are scanty, 'tis cold enough to freeze, — 
I wish I was in Georgia, eating goober peas. 

Peas, peas, peas, peas, 

Eating goober peas; 
I wish I was in Georgia, eating goober peas. 

— Stanza of a Prison Song. 

ONLY about two weeks did we abide in 
the Old Capitol, the officers being 
transported to Johnson's Island, and 
the privates to other prisons. Our route was 
by Harrisburg, and as the train was leaving 
the city it jumped the track, jolting horribly 
on the cross-ties, but inflicting no serious in- 
jury. 

The Sandusky river before it passes 
through its narrow mouth into Lake Erie 

widens into a beautiful bay about four miles 

109 



no REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

wide. In this bay is situated Johnson's 
Island, low and level, and containing three 
hundred acres. It is not in the middle of the 
bay, but is on the north side, half a mile from 
the main land, while on the other side it is 
three or more miles from the city of Sandusky 
across the water. 

The prison walls enclosed a quadrangular 
space of several acres, the southern wall run- 
ning along the margin of the bay and facing 
Sandusky. They were framed of wooden 
beams, on the outer side of which, three feet 
from the top, there was a narrow platform on 
which the guard kept continual watch. 
Thirty feet from the wall all around on the 
inside there was driven a row of whitewashed 
stobs, beyond which no prisoner was allowed 
to go on pain of being shot by the sentinels. 
At night the entire space within was illumi- 
nated by lamps and reflectors fixed against 
the walls. 

Within the walls there were eleven large 
wooden buildings of uniform size, two stories 
high. The first four were partitioned into 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL in 

small rooms, and were sheathed; the re- 
maining seven had two rooms on each floor, 
and they afforded no protection against 
the weather except the undressed clapboards 
that covered them. In each house the upper 
story was reached by an outside flight of 
steps. In the larger rooms some sixty or 
seventy men were huddled together. Around 
the sides bunks were framed on pieces of 
scantling that extended from floor to ceiling, 
arranged in three tiers, so that a floor space 
of six feet by four sufficed for six men. My 
cotton tick was never refilled, and after doing 
service for many months it became flat and 
hard. Our quarters and accommodations 
were such as the Yankees thought good 
enough for rebels and traitors, but in summer 
we were uncomfortably and unhealthily 
crowded, and in winter we suffered from the 
cold, because one stove could not warm so 
large and windy an apartment. Many a 
winter night, instead of undressing, I put an 
old worn overcoat over the clothes I had 
worn during the day. 



112 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

At first I "put up" in block No. 9, after- 
ward in No. 8, and toward the end of my im- 
prisonment in No. 3, which was much more 
comfortable. 

In summer, water was obtained from a 
shallow well, but in winter, when the bay was 
frozen, a few men from each mess were per- 
mitted to go out of the gate in the afternoon 
and dip uo better water from holes cut 
through the ice. On these occasions a strong 
guard extended around the prisoners from 
one side of the gate to the other. 

From the time of my capture until the fall 
of the year the rations were fairly good and 
sufficient, but then they were mercilessly re- 
duced, upon the pretext of retaliation for the 
improper treatment of Union prisoners in the 
South. The bread and meat rations were di- 
minished by a half, while coffee, sugar, 
candles, and other things were no longer sup- 
plied. We did our own cooking, the men 
of each mess taking it by turns, but the bread 
was baked in ovens outside and was brought 
in a wagon every morning. A pan of four 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 113 

loaves was the daily allowance for sixteen 
men. When I got my fourth of a loaf in the 
morning I usually divided it into three slices, 
of which one was immediately eaten and the 
others reserved for dinner and supper; but 
when the time came for the closing meal I 
had no bread, for hunger had previously 
claimed it all. But for some clothes, provi- 
sions, and money that were sent to me by kind 
friends residing in Kentucky and Maryland 
I think that I could not have lived to wit- 
ness the end of the war. There was not 
enough nutriment in the daily ration to sup- 
port vigorous health, and it was barely suffi- 
cient to sustain life. I believe that a few of 
the prisoners succumbed to disease and died 
because they had an insufficiency of nourish- 
ing food. Bones were picked from ditches, 
if perchance there might be upon them a 
morsel of meat. I was begged for bread, 
when I was hungry for the want of it. All 
the rats were eaten that could be caught in 
traps ingeniously contrived. When prejudice 
is overcome by gnawing hunger, a fat rat 



114 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

makes good eating, as I know from actual 
and enjoyable mastication. 

For a time we were permitted to obtain the 
news of the outside world through the New 
York World and the Baltimore Gazette, but 
these were suppressed; and then we had to 
depend upon a little Sandusky sheet and the 
Baltimore American, which vilified the 
South and claimed for every battle a Union 
victory. 

How did we while the time away? Well, 
we organized a minstrel band, singing clubs, 
and debating societies; we had occasional lec- 
tures and exchanged books in a so-called 
reading room; we had two rival base-ball 
teams, and we played the indoor games of 
chess, checkers, cards, and dominoes. I 
spent much time in reading the Bible, besides 
some of Scott's novels and the charming story 
of Picciola. 

On Sunday there were Bible classes, and 
sometimes sermons by men who had gone 
from the pulpit into the army. Among them 
were a Methodist colonel from Missouri, a 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 115 

Baptist colonel from Mississippi, and a Bap- 
tist captain from Virginia. At one time 
evangelistic services were held in a lower 
room of block No. 5, and a number of con- 
verts confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and 
Saviour, and declared their denominational 
preference. Those who decided to be Bap- 
tists were permitted, under guard, to go out 
to the shore and were baptized in the bay by- 
Captain Littleberry Allen, of Caroline county, 
Virginia; the rest could find within the walls 
as much water as they considered necessary 
for the ordinance. 

Block No. 6 was set apart for a hospital, 
into which a prisoner might go in case of sick- 
ness. It was superintended by a Federal 
surgeon, but a large part of the prescribing 
was done by Confederate officers who had 
been practicing physicians. The nursing 
was performed by the patients' more intimate 
friends, who took it by turns day and night. 
I have a sorrowful recollection of sitting up 
one night to wait on Captain Scates of West- 
moreland county, and to administer the med- 



ii6 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

icines prescribed by the doctors. The ward 
was silent save for occasional groans, the 
lights were burning dimly, and there was no 
companion watching with me. About mid- 
night the emaciated sufferer died, passing 
away as quietly as when one falls into healthy 
slumbers. I closed his eyes and remained 
near the body until the grateful dawn of 
morning. Guarded by soldiers we went to 
the cemetery without the walls, and commit- 
ted the body to the ground, far away from his 
family and native land. 

Nearly all the men confined on Johnson's 
Island were officers, of every rank from lieu- 
tenant to major-general, and numbering about 
twenty-six hundred. They represented all 
parts of the South and nearly every occupa- 
tion, whether manual or professional. They 
were men of refinement, — ingenious, daring; 
and they were enclosed in this prison because 
it was secured no less by an armed guard than 
by the surrounding water. 

Every man was trying to devise some 
method of escape, but only a few succeeded, 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 117 

not only because the difficulty was great, but 
also because there were spies among us. 
Three men tunneled out from Block No. i, 
only to find themselves surrounded by Yan- 
kee soldiers. Captain Cole, a portly man, 
became jammed in the passage, and was some- 
what like Abe Lincoln's ox that was caught 
and held on a fence, unable to kick one way 
or gore the other. The incident furnished 
the theme of another minstrel song, with the 
chorus, "If you belong to Gideon's band." 

I had a secret agreement with Captain John 
Stakes, of the 40th Virginia, that if either 
saw a way of escape he would let the other 
know. Many a time with longing eyes we 
looked upon a sloop that used to tie up for 
the night at a wharf near the island. If we 
only could get to it! And so we began a 
tunnel under block No. 9, but finding that 
our labors were discovered by a spy, we were 
constrained to desist. 

Two men filed saw teeth on the backs of 
case knives, and on a rainy, dark, and windy 
night they crawled down a ditch to the wall 



ii8 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

on the bay shore, and cut their way out; but 
they were captured and brought back. 

There were a few successful escapes. One 
man, smarter than the rest of us, when we 
went to a vessel to fill our ticks with straw 
concealed himself under what remained in 
the hold and was carried back to Sandusky, 
whence he wended his stealthy flight. Colonel 
B. L. Farinholt, of Virginia, got away in a 
very artful manner, an account of which has 
been published. In January, 1865, when the 
thermometer registered 15° below zero and 
an arctic northwest wind was blowing furi- 
ously Captain Stakes took me aside and told 
me in whispers that he and five others were 
going out that night, and that they had agreed 
that I might go with them. I answered that 
if the Yankees were to throw open all the 
gates and grant permission, I would not in 
my feeble health and with clothes so insuffi- 
cient, depart in such bitter weather. When 
the hour came those six men rushed to the 
wall, and setting up against it a bench, on 
which rungs had been nailed, climbed over. 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 119 

They were not shot at, perhaps because the 
sentries, not expecting such an attempt, had 
taken refuge from the cold in their boxes. 
On the thick ice that begirt the island they 
crossed over on the north side and gained the 
mainland. Captain Robinson, of Westmore- 
land, and three others with him, hiding in 
the daytime and traveling at night, after 
enduring many hardships arrived in Canada, 
where they were clothed and fed and supplied 
with money. Taking shipping at Halifax, 
they ran the blockade and landed in Wilming- 
ton, North Carolina. One of the six men 
was recaptured by a detective on a train in 
New York. My friend Stakes was over- 
taken the next morning and brought back so 
badly frostbitten that it became necessary to 
amputate parts of some of his fingers. 

By some means, I know not how, informa- 
tion was received in the prison that certain 
agents of the Confederate government in 
Canada would come to the island in steam- 
boats captured on Lake Erie to release the 
prisoners. It was agreed that when they ap- 



I20 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

preached and blew a horn the prisoners 
would storm the walls and overpower the 
guards. We, therefore, organized ourselves 
into companies and regiments and waited 
anxiously for the sight of the boats and the 
sound of the horn. Though we had no arms, 
except such as the rage of the moment might 
supply, and did not doubt that some of us 
would be killed, we were ready to fulfil our 
part of the desperate contract; and we felt no 
doubt of success, for the Hoffman Battalion 
that composed our guard had never been in 
battle nor heard the rebel yell. The expected 
rescuers never came. There must have been 
some real foundation for the proposed move- 
ment, for very soon the guard was reinforced 
by a veteran brigade, and the gunboat Michi- 
gan came and anchored near the island and 
showed her threatening portholes. 



CHAPTER XIII 

'Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, 
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home; 
A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there. 
Which seek through the world, is ne'er met with elsewhere. 

— Payne. 

IF one longs for home while roaming 
amidst pleasures and palaces, how much 
more intense, suppose you, must be the 
nostalgia of the soldier confined in a far dis- 
tant prison? 

March 14, 1865, was one of the happiest 
days of my life. After a captivity of twenty 
months, I was led out of the prison with the 
three hundred others, conducted to a steam- 
boat, and homeward bound transported to 
Sandusky. The thick ice that for three 
months had covered the bay was floating in 
broken pieces on the surface, through which 
the boat struggled with so much difficulty that 
I feared it would be necessary to put back to 

Z2X 



122 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

the island; but the trip was made at the ex- 
pense of some broken paddles. Why we were 
selected rather than our less fortunate com- 
patriots I cannot guess, unless it was to save 
the annoyance and the expense of burial, for 
some of our party had been wounded, others 
as well as myself, had recently recovered from 
serious sickness, and all were adjudged to be 
unfit for military service; or perhaps there 
was the same number in Southern prisons that 
for special reasons the Federal War Office de- 
sired to have exchanged. 

The train that was to convey us southward 
was made up of box-cars, upon the floors of 
which there was a thin covering of straw. 
We were so crowded that we all could not lie 
down at the same time. The sleepers lay with 
their heads at the sides of the cars, while their 
legs interlaced in the middle. We took the 
situation in good humor, and slept by turns, 
those who could not find room standing 
amidst entangled legs and feet. Thus we 
traveled several days and nights, our train be- 
ing frequently switched for the passage of 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 123 

regular trains. Our route was by Bellaire to 
Baltimore, or rather to Locust Point, where 
we took passage on a steamboat for James 
river. Having landed the next day, we 
walked across a neck of land formed by a bend 
of the river to the wharf where a boat from 
Richmond was expected to meet us. A com- 
pany of negroes made a show of conducting 
us across the neck, though a company of chil- 
dren armed with cornstalks would have been 
equally efficient. 

We had not long to wait until the smoke- 
stack of the Confederate steamboat could be 
seen winding along as she tracked the serpen- 
tine course of the river. As she neared the 
wharf the band on board struck up that sweet- 
est of tunes, — ^'Home, Sweet Home." Some 
of my companions laughed, some threw their 
caps into the air, others hurrahed, while my 
own emotions were expressed only by tears of 
joy that coursed down my cheeks. When, 
however, the music glided into the exhilarat- 
ing notes of '^Dixie" I joined in the cheering 
that mingled with the strain. 



124 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

We arrived in Richmond on the 22d of 
March, the eighth day after we had started. 
I was pained to notice in the city so many 
signs of delapidation and poverty, and to learn 
that Confederate money had depreciated to 
the point of sixty for one. The captain's 
salary that the government owed me for two 
years was worth only about fifty dollars in 
specie, which a friend in the treasury depart- 
ment advised me to collect at once, inasmuch 
as he thought that the capital would be soon 
evacuated. I took him for a timorous 
prophet, and told him I would wait until I 
rejoined the army, when I should need it. I 
did not know, as he did, the impoverished and 
critical condition of the Confederacy. 

I was not exchanged, but "paroled for 
thirty days unless sooner exchanged." I set 
out for the Northern Neck in company with 
Lieutenant Purcell, of Richmond county, and 
Captain Stakes, of Northumberland. We 
rode on a train as far as Hanover and then 
struck out afoot across the country. Not- 
withstanding the fact that one of my compan- 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 125 

ions limped on a leg that had been wounded 
at Gettysburg and the other was a little lame 
from frosted toes, it taxed all my powers to 
keep up with them. If I had rejoiced to see 
the James, I was happier still to set foot once 
more upon the bank of the Rappahannock. 
When we had crossed over we went to the 
home of Lieutenant Purcell, where we spent 
the night, and the next day, Monday, March 
27, I arrived at home. I supposed that I 
should take them by surprise, but somehow 
they had received intelligence of my coming; 
and as I approached the house I found them 
all lined up in the yard, white and black. 
''And they began to be merry." 

I found John in the stable, having been 
ridden home by my faithful man, Charles 
Wesley, who supposed that he had left me 
dead at Falling Waters. 

On the 14th of April, Good Friday, when 
I was thinking of returning to Richmond to 
inquire whether I had been exchanged and 
was still hoping for the independence of the 
Southern Confederacy, I attended religious 



126 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

services at a church in the neighborhood. 
When these had been concluded and the con- 
gregation were talking as usual in the yard 
a messenger arrived with a newspaper, which 
the Yankees had sent ashore from one of their 
gunboats, and which contained the details of 
General Lee's surrender of his army five 
days previously at Appomattox. My heart 
sank within me. My fondest hopes were 
crushed. The cause for which I had so often 
exposed my life, and for which so many of my 
friends had died, had sunk into the gloomy 
night of defeat. 

I was thankful that out of the horrid con- 
flict I had escaped with my life, a gray coat, 
and a silver quarter of a dollar. Although 
I had participated in all the battles that were 
fought by the Army of Northern Virginia, I 
was never seriously hurt. At Manassas one 
bullet struck my leg, and another forcibly 
wrenched my sword from my hand. At 
Chancellorsville a bomb exploded just in front 
of me, making a hole in the ground and cov- 
ering me with dirt, the pieces flying away with 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 127 

discordant noises. Countless balls whizzed 
by my ears, and men fell all around me, some 
of them while touching my side. Am I not 
justified in appropriating the words of David 
addressed to Jehovah, ''Thou hast covered my 
head in the day of battle?" 

Withdrawal from the Union was the right 
of the Southern States, as appears from the 
history of the making and adoption of the 
federal constitution; and great was the provo- 
cation to use it. It is not, however, always 
wise, — either for persons or communities, — 
to exercise their rights. Secession in the year 
i860 was a hot headed and stupendous political 
blunder, — a blunder recognized by the major- 
ity of the people of Virginia, who refused to 
follow the example of her southern sisters un- 
til there was forced upon her the cruel alterna- 
tive of waging war either against them or 
against the States of the North. 

Though secession was a grevious error, 
nevertheless the war that was waged by the 
Federal Government was a crime against the 
constitution, humanity, and God. But now, 



128 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

as we view the present and retrospect the 
past, who may say that all has not turned out 
for the best? We find consolation in the be- 
lief that the Lord's hand has shaped our 
destiny, and we meekly submit to his overrul- 
ing providence. 

"If it were done, when 'tis done, then 'twere well 
It were done quickly." 

But the war, like Duncan's murder, was not 
done after it was done. There supervened 
the unnecessary, vindictive, and malignant re- 
construction acts of the Federal Congress. 

On the 14th of April, only nine days after 
Lee had surrendered, a great calamity befell 
the South in the foolish and infamous assas- 
sination of President Lincoln, who was the 
only man who could have restrained the rage 
of such men as Sumner in the Senate and 
Stephens in the House of Representatives. 
The hatred of the Northern politicians was 
intensified by the supposition that his death 
was instigated by Southern men, and it did 
not abate even after they were convinced that 
the supposition was unfounded. 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 129 

It is a singular fact that while the war was 
in progress the acts of secession were consid- 
ered null and void, and the Southern States 
were declared to be parts of an indissoluble 
union, but when the war had ended they were 
dealt with as alien commonwealths and con- 
quered territories. For four years Virginia 
was not a co-equal State in the Union but 
"Military District No. i," governed by a 
Federal general, who appointed the local 
officers in the several counties. The affairs of 
the State were managed by carpetbaggers in 
close agreement with despicable scalawags 
and ignorant negroes. The elective franchise 
was granted to the emancipated slaves regard- 
less of character or intelligence, while it was 
denied to many white men. In Lancaster 
county the negroes had a registered majority 
of a hundred voters; it was represented in a 
constitutional convention by a carpetbagger, 
and after the adoption of the constitution it 
was represerted in the Legislature by a negro. 
To injury were added hatred and insult. 
It was not enough that the South was con- 



I30 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

quered, it must be humiliated by African 
domination! 

The Southern people did not go to war — 
war came to them. Not to gain military 
glory did they fight, although this meed must 
be awarded to them. Nor was the perpetua- 
tion of African slavery the object for which 
they took up arms, for in Virginia nineteen- 
twentieths of the citizens owned no slaves, and 
there was perhaps the same proportion in the 
other States of the Confederacy. Neither 
was it for conquest that they so long waged 
the unequal contest; for though they twice 
crossed the Potomac it was not to gain an acre 
of territory, but only to relieve their own 
beleaguered capital. From first to last it was 
a purely defensive struggle to maintain for 
themselves the freedom they cheerfully ac- 
corded to other communities, and to make 
good the inherited belief that "^all just gov- 
ernment derives its power from the consent 
of the governed." They simply resisted sub- 
jugation by a hostile government whose right 
to rule them they denied. 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 131 

As we review the history of that gigantic 
struggle we are not surprised that the South 
was subdued, the only wonder being that it 
was not sooner done. It required two and a 
quarter millions of soldiers four years to over- 
come one-third of that number. The South 
had no navy to open her ports, no commerce 
for her products, no foundries for the manu- 
facture of arms. During the first year there 
were not muskets enough to supply her vol- 
unteers, though later on sufficient numbers 
were taken on the fields of battles, fifty-two 
cannon and thirty thousand small arms being 
captured in the battles around Richmond, be- 
sides the many thousands that were taken in 
subsequent engagements. 

That the South for so long a time resisted 
the attempts of her powerful enemy, and dur- 
ing that period gained so many remarkable 
victories, is attributable to the skill of her gen- 
erals and the valor of her soldiers. In these 
respects only was the advantage on her side. 

The fame of her generals has spread 
throughout the world, and their campaigns 



132 REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 

enrich the text-books of the military students 
of Europe and Asia. They rank with the 
most famous commanders that ever led armies 
to victory. Their names are immortal, and 
their memory is enshrined not only in poetry 
and history, in marble and bronze, but also in 
the admiration of mankind and in the affec- 
tions of the Southern people. 

But what could strategy have achieved un- 
less there had been soldiers to make it effec- 
tive? The men had confidence in their com- 
manders and were responsive to their genius. 
In attack they exhibited impulsive courage, 
and in defense possessed unyielding firmness. 
They made days and places forever historic, 
when their pay was money in little more than 
name, their garments torn, their rations coarse 
and scant. Footsore they charged against the 
dense Blue lines, or made those rapid marches 
that bewildered opposing forces. 

When the end had come both officers and 
men surrendered as they had fought, — with- 
out mental reservation. Sadly they furled 
and yielded up the bullet-riddled battleflags 



REMINISCENCES OF A REBEL 133 

they had carried so proudly. Now while they 
manfully accept the hard arbitrament of war, 
and yield unaffected loyalty to the United 
States, they make no confession of criminality. 
While the war continued they were asserting 
what they believed was a God-given right, and 
now they recall with pride the valor and vic- 
tories of the Southern armies. 

Those armies are rapidly disappearing from 
the land they loved so well. Many of the 
men fell in battle, and many died in prisons 
and hospitals, and since the close of the war 
more of them have fallen asleep in peaceful 
homes. Those who have departed and those 
who survive will not want a eulogist while one 
remains; and when the last of the men who 
wore the gray shall have joined his comrades 
beyond the river of death, coming generations 
will celebrate their heroism and scatter flowers 
upon the mounds that mark the places where 
their ashes repose. 



THE END 



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